Playing (Inked Hearts 2)

He laughs. "Ever?" He squeezes my hand.

"Nope." I squeeze back. "Have you ever wanted something serious?"

"A long time ago. When I was a kid. I wanted the love I saw in the movies."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My sister and I used to watch eighties movies. Every weekend. We'd take turns. She'd always pick romances. I'd always pick action. Or sci-fi."

"Star Wars?"

"Of course. Empire Strikes Back is a masterpiece. And she wouldn't complain, because she was gaga for Han and Leia."

"Who isn't?" That's another thing I know. Han and Leia are forever.

He helps me up the steep part of the path. "Was bullshit what happened to them in The Force Awakens."

"Yeah. Fuck that. They're the best part of the movies and then there's one little line about how they're divorced. The movie barely acknowledges their relationship."

He looks me in the eyes. "You fucking with me?"

"No. They're the end game couple. They're the heart of the series. They're everything."

"You—" He slides his arms around my waist and pulls my body into his—"I'm gonna fall in love with you if you say shit like that?"

"Really?"

"It's pretty hot."

I laugh. "Being into Star Wars?"

"Are you really asking me that?" He nods to the path. Leads me under a cropping of trees. "Have you seen my apartment?"

It is heavily decked in Star Wars. "But you have all kinds of Sci-Fi."

"Yeah. And Star Wars is the gateway. You're gonna be debating Kirk vs. Piccard in no time flat."

No. But I… I really do care about Han and Leia. I have that feeling in my chest, the one I used to have all the time.

It matters to me.

Something besides school matters to me.

Fuck. I'm going to be the one falling in love with him if he keeps doing this to me.

That can't happen. He's might as well have heart breaker written on his forehead.

The path veers to the left. Walker heads right. Motions follow me.

We move through a cluster of trees. Then out the other side.

The city comes into view. All of it. Downtown, the Hollywood sign, the cluster of buildings in Century City, the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier, the ocean.

My lips part with a sigh. "It's so…"

"Weird to think of LA as beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah. But it is." It's like a post card. Bright blue sky, big yellow sun, rows of buildings bleeding into the coast. "The world is beautiful." I swallow hard. "Sorry. I sound like a poster."