Page 100 of Winging It with You

“Stranger danger! Stranger danger! Stranger danger!” His stature is small, but his warning isn’t anything to scoff at, because one second, I’m standing in front of the man I’m dying to kiss, and the next, I’m shot.

“What thefu…dge,” I yell, clutching my forehead. Somehow, I manage to choke back a string of obscenities I’d love nothing more than to lob at my assailant, but given the fact that he’s, what, three—four?—I keep my words G-rated. The little sharpshooter standing before me could quite literally be Theo’s mini-me with his thick, wavy dark hair and devilish grin. He stands there locked and loaded, ready to protect his family against intruders.

Theo nearly doubles over in laughter as I peel off the suction-cup dart that basically got me right between the eyes and throw it to the ground. Nice shot, kid.

“This is my nephew, Frankie…” he says, his voice trailing off when he realizes Frankie didn’t stick around long enough for an introduction. He’s instead gone running back up the driveway. “Sorry about that. Did it hurt?”

Truthfully, it didn’t feel great, but if anything, I think it just surprised me. “I’m fine,” I say, rubbing my forehead and reminding myself not to let Frankie out of my sight.

“Good…good.” Theo crosses his arms and all I want to do is wrap myself in him. “So, what are you doing here, Asher?” he asks quietly, like he’s afraid to know the answer.

“Theo, I—I had no idea…I need you to know…” But before I can tell him how my heart ached for him as soon as he’d left me or how on the plane ride here I’d replayed each and every moment we’d shared—a continuous loop of some of the happiest moments of my life—I realize we are once again very much not alone.

“Mijo, don’t be rude…I didn’t raise you to allow our guests to just awkwardly stand outside,” says a woman who I can only assume is Theo’s mother. “Especially when they’ve clearly been traveling.” She loops her arm through Theo’s and rests her head against his shoulder.

“Mom, this is Asher,” Theo says, his gaze still anywhere but on mine, the hurt in his voice more prevalent than it was just moments ago.

“It’s…um, lovely to meet you, Mrs. Fernandez,” I say, extending my hand in her direction.

“Please,” she says, taking my hand in hers, “call me Carla. You must be starving, Asher. Come on, I’ll make you a plate,” she says, leading me toward the house.

“One sec…I need to grab my bags.”

“Nonsense,” she says. “Theo can do that, right, sweetie?” Hedoesn’t respond, but I can hear him trailing behind us, the wheels of my beat-up roller bag—which is officially on its last leg—screeching against the asphalt with every step.

Carla guides me up the long, curved driveway. I knew little of Theo’s family home, but somehow, this is exactly how I pictured it—wildflowers and larger-than-life trees framing the understated but beautiful two-story lake house, and fireflies dancing in the distance, softly illuminating the night in the most fleeting of moments.

Would it be incredibly silly of me to say there’smagicin the air? Because that’s how being here makes me feel. Like at any given moment, something beautiful and entirely out of the ordinary could happen.

I look back at Theo, silently praying it’s not too late forourmagic.

“Alright, mis amores…We have a visitor!” Carla says when I step onto a massive brick patio where I’ve clearly interrupted what appears to be a very lovely family dinner. “Please make Asher feel welcome while I heat him up a plate,” Carla says before turning toward the glow of the house.

“Oh…you don’t have to do th—”

“It’s nothing. Please, sit and get comfortable, cariño,” Theo’s father says, waving to an empty chair.

“Um, hi,” I say, giving a rigid wave as I take a seat in between Theo and his father.

“It’s nice to meet you, Asher,” he says warmly, offering a hand to me, which I shake. “I’m Alejandro. And this is my daughter, Dr. Elise Mariana Fernandez-Perez, pediatric medicine,” he says like any proud father would, “and her husband, Stefan.”

“Jeez, dad,” Elise scolds her father. “Shall I hand him over my résumé and socials as well?”

“What!” Alejandro retorts, laughing loudly with his full body. “Can you blame a father for being proud of his daughter, a doctor?”

She ignores him. “Glad you could make it, Asher,” she says, winking at me. I have to find a way to thank her for tagging Theo in that photo and responding to my last-ditch message.

Because without her, I wouldn’t be here.

Amid the friendly introductions, Theo abruptly gets up from the table and walks off, hands back in his pockets, shoulders raised. Alejandro watches his son disappear from view, and Elise shoots me a sympathetic look.

“Excuse me,” I say, rising from my own chair. I sense each pair of eyes follow me as I briskly attempt to catch up to him.

Theo unknowingly leads me down toward the lake, past a worn pair of Adirondack chairs, until he reaches the far end of the wooden dock. The night sky is void of any stars. A slight breeze sends goose bumps rippling across my exposed skin.

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.” Theo’s back is to me now, but his tone has a little more bite to it than when we met in the driveway. “And now you’re here, of all places.”

“Did you really think I was just going to disappear from your life forever? After everything we’ve been through?” I take a hesitant step forward, desperately wanting to close the icy distance between us. We’ve spent too much time apart as it is, but I also know Theo’s hurt. I knew coming here was a risk. But judging by Theo’s rigidity, I’m beginning to fear I miscalculated exactly how this reunion would go down. It’s not like I was expecting to be met with fireworks and anAll is forgiven, Asherbanner, but this? I’ve never seen Theo like this.

---