Page 19 of Ruin

“Like me.”

“Yeah. Like you,” he echoes. “And the twins, Apollo and Artemis, are twelve.”

“You all have Greek gods’ names,” I say and then cringe. “And I’m clearly on fire tonight with my blatant observations.”

He laughs, and I realize that I really like the sound. A lot. And I want to keep on hearing it even if at my own expense.

“So, any reason for the choice of names?” I ask him. “I know some parents call their children names like River and Grass because they’re hippies.”

“My parents met in a Greek mythology lecture when they were at college. My dad’s lame pick-up line was that, if he and my mom had a kid together, they should call him Zeus ’cause with my mom’s beauty and brains and my dad’s size, their kid would be godlike. Clearly, she fell for it because here I am.” He spreads his arms.

“And are you?”

“What?” He turns his face to me.

“Godlike?” Because, from where I’m sitting, you sure as hell look like one.

Zeus’s eyes hold mine for a long time. “No,” he says softly. “I bleed just like everyone else, Dove.”

The ride comes to a stop, leaving us stationary at the top.

“Ride must be over,” Zeus muses, looking over the edge. “They’re letting people off.”

I feel a spike of sadness that it’s almost to the end. I could stay on here with him forever.

Something wet hits my nose. Then, my forehead.

“Is it raining?” I say right as the heavens open. I mean, they open wide. It’s pouring down.

“I’d say so.” Zeus laughs.

“Jesus! I’m getting soaked!”

The shelter over the top of the car is doing nothing to shield us. I can hear the other people on the wheel squawking out their dismay over the sound of the music playing.

“Come on. Move, Mr. Ferris Wheel,” I chant, now wishing for the ride to hurry up so that I can get off it and under some shelter.

Zeus pulls off his jacket. “Here, put this over your head,” he offers.

“You’ll get soaked.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a bit of rain.”

“Share it?”

“Okay.”

He holds the jacket over our heads, and I have to move in a little closer to get us both under the shelter.

I look up, and his face is so close to mine. I can see the droplets of water on his face. Feel the heat of his breath on my cheek.

I somehow register the song that’s currently pumping out of the speakers on the ground below.

“Do you think it’s a little ironic that ‘Umbrella’ is playing while it’s raining like the Great Flood is about to start?”

He purses his lips in the most adorable way. “That, or fate.”

“Fate?”