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She was the reason the circus was so popular right now.
Not saying that the circus wasn’t a great show. It really was.
But in the middle of the week, on a Tuesday, the only thing that was going to draw a crowd was Zip and her trapeze show.
Thanks to a viral video of her flying through the air and narrowly missing dying due to a failed harness that was supposed to catch her when it didn’t, the stands were now filled on Tuesdays just to get an eye on her act.
Meanwhile, the rest of them got a reprieve.
Unfortunately, that meant my cue to leave.
Zip meant people. And people meant that JP and I were out, even though JP absolutely adored watching Zip’s performance.
“Listen, Kobesan,” I said matter-of-factly. “I can’t do this.”
His eyes went wide.
That’s when I realized what I’d called him. “San” tacked onto the end of a name in Japanese culture was a form of respect. Reverence. Usually, it denoted someone that was respected, cared about, or special in some way to the person saying it.
And I’d showed him my hand.
One, he not only knew that I knew about his culture. Two, he knew that I was interested enough to know about his culture.
His eyes glowed, but before he could say anything else, the lights around the room dimmed and Zip appeared on stage.
I saw her eyes flick over to me, and I sighed.
“Let’s go outside.”
I went to jump down, my jump to the ground a whole lot farther than I would’ve liked, but while I’d been sitting there with him, the bleachers around me had started to pack in. Meaning I either squished my way toward the bottom or launched myself over the side.
Being the introverted person I was, I obviously chose door number two.
But before I could catch any air whatsoever, Kobe reached up and caught me around the upper torso with only his hands. Thumbs brushing the lower outside swell of my breast, my breath hitched.
Then he was lifting me free of the bleachers, my iPad in hand, and setting me gently down on my feet.
There had to be a couple hundred people in the tent by now, and not a single one of them realized how my life had just irrevocably changed.
All he’d done was place his hands on me, yet it felt like he’d reached up, gathered a few pieces of my broken self, and reverently placed them back together before handing them back to me.
I licked my lips, cleared my throat, then started for the side flap that the staff used to enter and exit the large main tent.
When I’d first gotten here, I’d been just as awed as JP.
I mean, how often did you get to see a circus?
And, to that effect, how often did you get to be in the genetic makeup of one?
Over the last year, I’d found that it was a lot of freakin’ fun.
However, I always felt like I was missing the other half of my soul.
The other half of my soul lived in Accident with Morrigan and Kobe. Even with the rest of their motley crew, the Gator Bait MC.
As much fun as it was to spend time with large cats—being a vet came in handy when you were trying to pay your way in a circus when usually all you used were your skills to live—awesome people and the nightlife, my soul still yearned for a place to call home. A silent place where I could set up my computers, find my next adventure, and learn.
Though unless I could figure out my next step with my newest threat hanging over my head, I’d be playing the running game for another ten years of my life until JP turned eighteen.
