The Storm Before the Calm (20 page)

We walked toward the restaurant and stood in line for our lunch. When I finally bit in, I hummed my satisfaction around the mouthful of food. Max was right, consecutive hot dog days weren’t necessarily a bad thing. These were different from the ones from the day before but just as good. We found a bench and sat down to have our lunch and spend some time people watching.

There were lots of families with small children, despite the mature nature of most of the rides. A few teenagers walked by as well, spending the day with their friends, and couples of all ages. What I noticed most pronouncedly was the fact that everyone was happy. I realized my expression mimicked those I saw around me. I was genuinely, supremely happy. It wasn’t just the amusement park either. I realized I’d been carrying this light feeling around for days, and it was entirely foreign to me but entirely welcome.

I wiped the corner of my mouth with my napkin and wadded it up into a ball.

“All done?” Max asked, taking my garbage from me.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“How was it?”

“Delicious. You were right.”

“Oh, how I love those words,” he sang as we stood and walked toward the garbage can. “Should we get back to the rides?”

“Definitely,” I said enthusiastically.

We made our way back through the throngs of people into the park. We spent the next few hours riding every ride we could, each one scarier than the one before it, but as we progressed through the list, the less scared I became and the more addicted to the thrill. The adrenaline paired with the warmth and excitement of having Max next to me amplified what I was feeling until I was dizzy with the high of it. At least I thought it was the effects of being with Max. For all I knew, it could have been all the sugar from the junk food we stopped to snack on between rides.

We took a break later in the day to play some of the midway games. Max boasted he could win me one of the giant teddy bears I’d seen people walking around with. For some reason, I found that declaration to be incredibly romantic. Who knew I’d be a sucker for stuffed animals?

We found the Goblet Toss booth. The rules were simple, land the ball in the goblet to win a prize. Yellow won small, green was medium, red was large, and blue was the goal—the extra-large prize. Max handed over his money and gave it his best shot, landing in the white cups and winning nothing. I stepped up next, repeating Max’s performance and losing.

“Okay, this is it,” Max said, hard determination painted on his handsome face. “We’re taking home a prize this time.” He handed the man more money and took the balls. He squared his shoulders and widened his stance, practice aiming a few times before he threw the ball. It bounced around the cups until finally landing in a yellow one. “Goddammit,” he cursed. I laughed.

“Would you care for a mermaid or a crab?” the man asked, motioning to the tiny plush figures pinned to the wall behind him.

Max looked over at me, then back at the man. “The crab, I think.”

“Sure thing,” he said, plucking a blue velvet crab and handing it to Max.

He grinned and handed it to me.

“For you,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied. “Could I give it a try?”

I’d never been all that good at sports, especially ones that required aim of any kind, but this appeared to be more luck than actual skill, so I handed the man my money, took the balls, and tossed. My ball matched Max’s trajectory almost exactly, bouncing and ricocheting off the edges of the goblets until it finally settled into one of the yellow cups.

“Congratulations,” the man said in a bored monotone voice. “Crab or mermaid?”

“Crab please. A green one if you don’t mind.”

The man shuffled over and grabbed the one I’d requested, handing it to me with a look of boredom on his face as he greeted the players standing behind us.

“Thanks,” I said, but he’d already moved on.

“Here you go.” I handed the green crab to Max. “I won that for you with my remarkable skill.”

“Thanks. I will cherish it forever,” he said. “You know what?”

“What?”

“We just gave each other crabs!” He burst into raucous laughter.

I couldn’t help but join in, even though the joke had been beyond terrible. Max wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me in, pressing a loud smacking kiss against my cheek.

“What do you wanna do next?”

“Maybe ride the Cyclone one more time, and then could we maybe… go back to your place?”

Max beamed at me. “Definitely. One more coaster and then some alone time?”

“That sounds perfect.”

I’d had a fantastic time at the amusement park. Coney Island was a blast, but all the crowds had gotten to be a bit overwhelming after a while, and spending all day with Max, made me want to kiss him and touch him—something I was much more comfortable doing in private. Not to mention we would probably get kicked out of Luna Park forever if we did what I wanted to do in front of all those people.

T
HE
SUBWAY
ride home took longer than it had to get there. At least that’s how it seemed. The cars weren’t as busy as weekday afternoons, but they were by no means empty. Max and I found seats in the corner and sat down on the hard plastic. I rested my knee against the dull metal of the back wall and leaned into Max.

The solidness of his body next to me calmed me and made me feel a bit sleepy. I felt safe with him, contented and secure, and it was a feeling I liked very much. I was getting used to having him with me, and when we were apart it was becoming more and more difficult to keep him from my mind.

I wanted to make the most of the time we had left together. Part of me resented having to go back to Ginny’s. Sleeping in Max’s arms was the best feeling in the world, and although the positioning took some adjustment, once we were comfy, I slept better than I ever had before.

People shuffled in and out around us, in a hurry to get to this place or that, but I was exactly where I wanted to be. I took a moment to wonder about the lives of everyone on the train. Were they as happy as me? Did they have someone waiting at home for them who made them feel the way Max made me feel? I hoped so.

I shifted in my seat, sliding marginally closer to him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me toward him, burying a kiss in my hair. I hummed happily.

F
INALLY
WE
came to our stop, and we stood, then scuffled past the other passengers and out the door. We climbed the steps back into daylight, squinting at the light that was so much brighter than the fake fluorescents underground.

Max took my hand once more, and we walked the few blocks to his apartment. “Are you hungry?” he asked as we passed by the bodega on the corner.

“I don’t think I can eat for another year or two. Between the hot dogs, the cotton candy, the funnel cakes, and the popcorn, I think I’ve had enough food, certainly sugar anyway, to last me at least the next few days.”

“Well, if you change your mind we can always order in later.”

“I doubt I’m going to be hungry again anytime this decade.”

“You never know. Maybe when we get to my place we could think of a way to work up an appetite.” Max waggled his eyebrows at me.

“Maybe.” And then the thoughts of what we could do to work up that appetite flooded into my mind and I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I knew my face was redder than an overripe cherry.

“I’m thinking you have some ideas on how we could do that,” Max teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

“You want me to lick you all over? That could be arranged.”

The heat spread, climbing to the tips of my ears. Sometimes the things Max said melted my brain, and the fact that he had said it while walking past a couple of old ladies made it so much worse.

W
E
MADE
it back to his apartment without my head exploding all over the pavement. We walked up the stairs, Max motioning for me to go first. As I ascended, I could feel Max’s hands on my ass, squeezing. I ran ahead of him, dodging his groping, laughing.

“Get back here!” he called, his voice echoing in the stairwell. “That ass is mine.”

I raced up the stairs and through the door into his hallway, Max chasing me and cackling evilly.

He caught me, grabbing me and covering me with his body, pressing his mouth to mine, growling and kissing me possessively. I slid my tongue along his and groaned, the lust inside me rising the deeper he kissed me.

He pulled back long enough to unlock the door and push it open.

“Danny?” he called into the apartment, his hands sliding up under my shirt and along my spine. “Thank fuck,” he muttered when there was no response, and he pulled me with him into the apartment, slammed the door, and pushed me up against it.

He pinned me there, his mouth over mine once more. I widened my stance, making room for the knee he wedged between my legs. He ground his hips into mine, the pace frantic and demanding. I tore at his clothing, desperate to feel his skin against mine.

“Stay with me tonight?”

I nodded. Like there was ever a question. “Of course.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

T
HE
REST
of the summer passed in a blur. Classes and dates and kisses and sex, movies and cuddling and lunches on the High Line. I spent most of my free time with Max, and occasionally Andy would join us. The more I got to know them, the more unbelievable it became that I was going to have to leave them in a little less than a week.

It was our last few rehearsals, and our teachers were running us hard. I hadn’t been that sore since my first week. I trudged home every evening feeling like someone had been hitting me for the last eight hours with a bag of hammers. It was worth it, though. The group numbers for the final show were incredible. Carol from my studio back home was a gifted choreographer, but something magical happened when you got a group of dancers this good together with a set of experienced professionals.

I was tired, and having acro as the last class of the day was exhausting. Not that all our classes weren’t high energy, but Sean had been helping Max and me with something we had incorporated into our piece. Over and over Max grasped my hands, his fingers intertwining with mine, palm to palm. As I jumped, he lifted me, his hands at shoulder height. My body bent as I aligned my hips above my head, my feet coming together in a handstand, my weight supported on his hands as he balanced me above him.

I was balanced in the air, our faces a few inches apart. Max kept his eyes trained on mine, his face smiling and confident as I laid all my trust in him not to drop me on my head. I felt him squeeze my left hand as he lifted it up, helping me transfer my weight as I moved my legs to the side and let go, my entire mass balanced by one hand, supported by his.

I held it for a few seconds, then brought my hand back down to grip his, maneuvering my body from a split handstand into a linear one, feet pointed up. I kept my gaze locked with his, and when he gave me the slight nod, I fell backward, curling my back to bounce off his as he brought me back down to earth.

The music stopped, and Sean applauded, letting us know we were done for the day. I was dripping with sweat, and all I wanted was a hot shower and to collapse on the sofa with Max and watch some mindless TV. I’d taken to spending my afternoons at his place, having dinner with him on the nights Ginny wasn’t home, and only going back to her place to sleep.

Most nights she was home, Max would follow me back and have dinner with us there. A few nights earlier, she’d said we were starting to morph into one person, joined at the hips. She’d laughed forever at her inappropriate joke, but secretly I thought it was pretty funny… and a little bit true.

We grabbed our things and walked the few blocks to Max’s place. Danny was absent, presumably at school working on his dissertation. I wasn’t complaining. I liked Danny, but I liked being alone with Max a whole lot more.

I’d just collapsed on the couch when my phone rang. Max went into the kitchen while I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, baby!”

“Mom!” I was so happy to hear her voice. As happy as I’d been in New York and as much as I was dreading leaving, I’d missed her like crazy.

“I have some fantastic news,” she said, her voice light and musical.

“Tell me,” I urged.

“I got a couple of days off, and I’m coming out to see your final performance.”

“Yes!” I yelled. “That’s awesome. I am so excited you’re coming.”

“Me too. I’ve already started packing. I’ll be staying with you and Ginny. It’ll be a bit tight, but we’ll make do.”

I opened my mouth to tell her I could ask Max if I could stay there but slammed it just as quickly. I was getting complacent. She was going to find out if I wasn’t careful.

“It’ll be fine,” I said instead. “I’m just happy I get to see you and you get to see the final performance. I think you’re going to be pretty amazed with how good it all is.”

“I’ve always been amazed with how good you are. I have to run, but I’ll see you on Saturday!”

“Bye, Mom. See you then.”

I hung up the phone and went to find Max.

“Your mom’s coming?” he asked.

“I guess you heard, then,” I said happily.

“I did. Am I going to get to meet her?”

I hesitated, giving his question some thought for a moment. “I’m not sure,” I said honestly. “I’d like you to. She’s amazing and you’re amazing, and I think you’d both get along really well.” I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “But I’m afraid if she sees us together she’s going to know how I feel about you.”

Max gave me a sad smile and nodded. “And how do you feel about me?” he asked.

I got quiet. I didn’t want to say it. Not out loud. It was too soon and I was leaving and it was all too much. I could feel the tears pricking the backs of my eyes. I wouldn’t cry, though. Not over this.

“It’s okay,” Max said finally, pulling my head against his chest. He kissed the top of my head.