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“Not this one.” David bent and folded back ferns at the next post. “Not this one.” He sank to his knees and his voice rang with relief. “Here.”
Savvy steered the phone in close, then moved back, capturing them both. Jonathan crouched and eyed the cursive, the little upwards flick of the V. Wavy flames grooved into the wood either side.
“That handwriting looks suspiciously familiar.” He steadied his gaze on David, who looked into the camera and away again, laughing.
“I was young.”
Before he met Jonathan.
“You never tagged LOVE into your school property by any chance?” He stood, simultaneously springy with hope and deflated, resigned. He pulled Jonathan up and glanced at his wrist. Jonathan raised his arm and fingers fluttered at the watchstrap, a stroke along the side of the case, a glance out the corner of his eye to Jonathan’s face. Jonathan curved himself behind David and read over his shoulder. “Twenty minutes left.”
A shiver wracked David and he swayed on his feet, heat ebbing and flowing towards Jonathan’s chest.
“Come on. I know of two more.”
Jonathan marched David down the street and into the library.
Under his breath, David said, “You don’t seem to be sweating.”
“I’m not.”
“Aren’t you afraid of losing?”
“Yes.” He stopped at the romance and history aisle and looked David in the eye. “But we are not going to lose.”
David’s breath caught, and he nodded.
Jonathan led him to the back of the aisle. The step stool that usually sat in the corner was missing. “They’re on the shelf above our heads. With mirrored cupids. I’ll find the stool—”
David clutched his shoulder and turned him around. “No time.” Weight and heat dropped onto his back. Thighs tucked around his waist, the fingers of one hand pushed at his shoulder. David’s chest rose and fell against the back of his head along with dizzying laughter. “Hold on. Savvy, the phone!”
Jonathan oofed as David shifted, pressing his groin into his back, thighs straining against his palms where he pushed himself higher.
A triumphant, “Got it!”
In a flash the heat slipped off him and Jonathan turned sharply, looking at David. That incredulous grin, mischievous, necessity overtaking nerves. Oh, but the nerves flooded back under his stare.
Jonathan cleared his throat.
David glanced away.
“Ten minutes, guys.” They jerked toward Savvy, and traded looks.
Two more. There was fear in David’s eyes. They needed two more.
Calmly, Jonathan took his hand and led him to Courtship Crossover.
The air brimmed with the promise of rain and the light on the stone causeway was filtered through cloud cover, making it at once brighter and heavier. Moisture slicked the rails, the cobbled stone under their boots. David’s anxious laughter plumed from his mouth, dispersing toward the grand arch. It looked bigger today. Swollen with the memory of that last time. Wet, like all the tears it held had finally started shedding.
Savvy skipped ahead and through the arch without a second thought. They turned on the other side, phone angled to take him and David in. The arch. The LOVE carved crookedly into it.
Each clack of Jonathan’s boots resonated through him. David slowed the nearer they got; he grabbed Jonathan’s wrist, hand swallowing his watch.
If you need assurance.
Together they stepped under the arch, the rising stone making cool shadows that danced at his neck, the top of his head. David shivered.
He fingered the carved letters and tossed out a smile to the camera. “Forty-nine.”
Around them, the chime of church bells echoed through the park.
Dong! David jerked to him, fright punching from his expression. “You’re still not sweating.”
Dong!
“No.”
From his pocket, Jonathan procured his keys. Dong!
“Jonathan?” Whispered. Shocked. Dong! “It’s public property. You would never . . .”
Dong! Jonathan turned and set the sharp angle of his studio key to the old stone. Dong!
A hand on his shoulder. David, imploring. “At least let me.” Dong! “This sort of thing is expected from me.”
Dong!
Jonathan refocused and drew a bright line. L. Dong!
O. Dong!
His keys fell and he chased after them. Dong!
He stood, hurriedly scratching the V—
O’Hara had his keys out, his own studio key pinched between his fingers. He finished the E, knuckles bumping up against Jonathan’s. Dong!
LOVE. They’d done it. Unbridled laughter leapt from David and he turned to Savvy, beaming. He stepped out from under the arch, and Jonathan caught his hand and pulled him back under.
That dimple flashed. “Did you plan that all along?”
Chapter Seventeen
Social Challenge 11: At the Touch of Love, Everyone Becomes a Poet
Shadows thickened on Courtship Crossover as the clouds darkened. David leaned against the arch, LO bright next to his neck, the VE disappearing behind him, his green eyes fixed on Jonathan.
Jonathan leaned in. A dewy, electric press of their lips. “I planned that, too.”
“Stop!” They turned abruptly to Savvy. “You’ll break the internet. And it’s time to go.”
Laughter. David rushed to take his phone. Savvy’s arms wrapped around Jonathan. And then they were on their way. The car. Check in. The line at the gate.
