New York teemed with life in a way I’d never experienced. People strode past, arguing, laughing, talking into their phones in different languages. Hawking wares, swearing, or meandering like tourists, taking photos of the glowing billboards surrounding us on all sides.
For a small-town kid like me, it was a lot to take, but Thea stood in the center of that bustling sidewalk, her eyes drinking it all in, the color and light playing over her face. Her smile was radiant, and I wished Delia could see how happy her sister was at this moment.
Thea glanced up at me, her smile never wavering, only softening.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
I nodded. She turned her gaze back to the lights, but I just watched her; drank her in because she was all the light and color I could ever want.
She must’ve felt my eyes on her; she turned to me again, delicate brows furrowed.
“What is it?” she asked. “Tell me everything. Even if it’s hard.”
“Nothing good lasts,” I said. “That’s been a truth of my life. Being with you? Here? It’s too fucking good.”
“Nothing ever lasts, good or bad,” she said, her eyes alit with a thousand different colors. “That’s why we have to live as much as we can, as hard as we can, every moment.”
Every fucking moment.
My arms slipped around her waist and I pulled her close. Her hands slid up my chest and clasped behind my neck.
“Are you going to kiss me now?” she asked. “Please say yes. I’m saying yes, Jimmy.”
Because I’m a choice she’s making.
I bent my head to her until our lips brushed and then I kissed her. No fences or rules or hesitation. I kissed her with my entire heart that had been so fucking vacant until Thea.
Her mouth opened for me with a little sigh, almost like relief. I drank it down and when she moaned softly; I took that too. Inhaled it. Sucking gently because the need to have this piece of happiness was all-consuming. I’d been starving for it my entire life.
The first raindrops began to fall, lightly at first, then harder.
“Oh shit,” Thea said with a breathless laugh.
Lightning crashed, and the sky tore open. The downpour scattered the tourists and sent them running for store awnings while the native New Yorkers calmly opened umbrellas or pulled up hoods on jackets, unfazed.
I ducked into my jacket and shielded Thea with it as we made a mad dash back to the truck. We were drenched by the time we climbed in, Thea’s shirt clinging to her every curve.
“We’ve only been in New York for a few minutes, and I already love it,” she said, her eyes luminous in the dimness. “It doesn’t give a shit that we were trying to have a moment.”
“Not remotely,” I said. “Where to?”
“A close hotel,” Thea said, leaning to kiss my ear. “As close as humanly possible.”
I drove the truck to the closest hotel, the Hilton Times Square, grateful my jeans and the dark concealed how badly I wanted her.
Thea bit her lip as we pulled into the valet. “The parking is as much as the room.”
“I have it covered,” I said. “Let’s do the first night here. We’ll figure the rest out later.”
She grinned. “No script?”
“None.”
We climbed out of the truck, her with her backpack and me with the small duffel I’d packed after I’d received Rita’s text. Thea’s eyes widened as she watched me pull my guitar case from behind the front seat too.
“Are you trying to kill me, Jimmy?”
I shrugged, feeling self-conscious. “I don’t know. You keep asking me to sing. I felt like the odds were good you’d ask me again on this trip.”
“A billion to one, for.” She grinned. “But I have money too,” she added as I tipped the guy at the valet. “You’re not paying for everything. I’ll get the room.”
I didn’t like the idea of Thea spending a dime on me, but this was her trip and part of it was paying her own way after years of dependence on everyone else.
“Do you have something high up with a view?” Thea asked the desk clerk.
“We’re pretty booked…” He tapped his keyboard. “A-ha. You’re in luck. I have a standard room on the thirty-third, two queens, non-smoking.”
“Queen-sized,” she said, heaving a dramatic sigh. “I suppose we can make do.”
He smirked. “Do your best.”
Key cards in hand, we rode the elevator up to the thirty-third floor. The air seemed to thin out as we rose higher and higher, anticipation rising with it. I glanced down