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They stopped a few more times. There was a souvenir tent that had a crapton of team jerseys. He even found some Raiders gear buried under the local teams. Ry was so proud of himself he insisted on buying it for her. After she tossed out her decimated apple, he tugged it on over her tank, mumbling something about the wind. She would’ve sworn she was dressed up in a ball gown by the way his expression went heavy and dark.
Her nipples responded in kind, tightening under her tank. He noticed that too, so she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the pay stand. Otherwise they’d probably end up making out in a shadowy corner and miss the show altogether.
“No way,” he said, picking through a tray at the checkout. He pried out best friend keychains in the shape of—of all things—a pair of hummingbirds. The wings interlocked.
She shook her head. “Seriously?”
He wasn’t listening to her, because he’d already whipped out his credit card to pay. The instant the charge went through, he deposited hers in her palm and closed her fingers over it, sealing the gesture with a kiss that made the people in line behind them clear their throats.
“Can I get a best friend like yours?” the teenaged checkout boy asked, his cheeks red.
Ryan chuckled and wrapped his arm around Denver’s shoulders. “Not sharing her, sorry.”
Once they were outside again, the faint sounds of country music reached Denver’s ears. “Shit, that’s gotta be the opener.”
“Nah, it’s the opener’s opener. We got time, baby.” He swung their hands between them, pointing at a guy guessing ages and weights. “Wonder what he’d guess about us?”
“That you’re crazy and going to make us late for the concert?”
“Wise-ass. No, better yet, look at that.” He indicated the purple tent with a revolving crystal ball out front. “Tarot card reading. They have couples’ ones. Let’s go.”
“Dude, you can’t be for real. Tarot? No. That stuff is so fake.”
“So? If it’s fake, just listen and enjoy.”
“It’s a waste of money—”
But he was already pulling her along, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him no.
That was becoming a bad habit of hers.
In no time, she found herself seated beside him in front of a folding card table covered in flowing orange and purple fabric. The older woman smiled at their linked hands, because Ryan seemed to have an aversion toward letting her go. She couldn’t say she minded overmuch.
It was nice just holding hands and having fun with someone she cared about. Or it would be if she could chase away the prickle of anxiety that kept popping up every time she looked behind her. She just couldn’t settle tonight.
Probably because she was waiting for Ry to be discovered. That had to be it. Not that it would be a crisis, but screaming women and being swamped for autographs would kind of put a damper on their relaxed evening.
“Couples reading, is it?” The woman drew a pack of cards from a basket adorned with fake flowers and surrounded by hunks of crystal. “How long have you been together?”
“Not long enough.”
Denver shot Ryan a look under her lashes, but he was too busy smiling earnestly at the tarot card reader to notice.
“Your energy together, it’s very good. I sense a lot of mutual love and respect between you.”
“Yes, respect for sure,” Denver said swiftly, pretending not to notice how his grip slackened on her hand.
“Love is there too,” the older woman said. “No matter what you call it, the feeling is the same.”
She handed the cards to Denver. “Please shuffle them. Then when you are finished, allow your young man to do the same. This way, you are transferring both of your energies to the cards.”
After releasing Ryan’s hand, Denver accepted the deck and shuffled as requested. Her grip wasn’t steady, and her palms had grown slick. Silly. She didn’t believe in this mumbo jumbo. No reason to get freaked that the tarot would see something dire in her future.
Their future.
Ryan shuffled them next, and then they went through a routine of picking different cards that the older woman placed in strategic places on the table. She flipped them through one at a time, giving a short explanation and asking questions. The Sun card made the woman ask them their professions, and she seemed quite certain that Ryan was headed for greatness with “his band of compatriots.” He hadn’t specified he was in a band, just said he was in the music business, but it probably wasn’t a huge leap that he made music with others.
Still, Denver had to fight a shiver.
