Page 64 of Seeing Grayscale

“Never seen it.”

“How?!”

“Because I haven’t?”

Shaking my head, I make a point to remember he needs to watch that masterpiece. It was one of my mom’s favorites, and I watched it whenever I could after she died. Once satisfied with the blanket over the ground, he kneels, gesturing for me to come closer.

“We gotta watch it,” I insist, retaking his hand so I don’t tweak my leg.

“Sure thing,” he says easily. We get situated, and Hunter lies back. “The trick is not to watch it coming. You have to listen for it.”

With an eye roll mainly to disguise how endearing his nerdiness is, I follow suit, crossing my hands over my stomach. “Would suck if it started raining,” I mumble, eyeballing the clouds in a warning.

“Don’t jinx it,” he barks, nudging me playfully.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” I smile, turning my head to glance his way, but he’s already watching me.

His words from the car slam into my psyche as my pulse kicks against my chest. We are too close, I just now realize. The heat from his breath whips across my mouth, the scent of his cologne stronger in my nose. Despite the chill in the air, he’s impossibly warm, and I have the horrible urge to scoot closer.

Dipping his eyes down to my mouth briefly before lifting them back up, he smiles, revealing a peek of a dimple. “If something can go wrong, it will. But if you point it out, it tends to happen faster.”

Well, if that isn’t ironic.

“Fine, it won’t rain,” I concede, a touch too breathless.

He elbows me again and looks up. “It’s almost time.”

I turn my head again, the flutters in my stomach increasing. In the distance, the loud rumble of an engine sounds off. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot him grinning so widely that I’m sure his face will crack horizontally. Not sure what all the excitement is over, I wait and listen, just like he said. The ground vibrates beneath us; tires whirl over asphalt and Hunter wiggles. His hips bop from side to side.

Unable to stop myself, I pivot my face just a hair to see his expression. Pure anticipation and joy cover him like a soft glow. His eyes twinkle as he fixates on the sky, his lips upturned into a goofy grin, and when I peer down, his feet are excitedly tapping at the air.

He loves this.

Fuckingloves it.

“Stop looking at me and watch!” he barks over the screaming engines that are so loud I can feel the soundwaves prickling my skin.

I tear my eyes away just in time. The tip of the plane comes into sight first, and the wind whips over us in powerful gusts. It steals the oxygen from my lungs as a surprised yelp leaves my mouth. Hunter booms out a laugh, neck craning as the plane gets higher and completely overpasses us. With speed, he flips on his stomach, accidentally rubbing up against my side, and watches with dazzling wonder as the plane breaks through the thick, dark clouds.

“Wasn’t that awesome!” he shrieks, facing me and shaking my shoulder.

The plane wasn’t the awesome part, but I don’t mention it. “It was really cool.”

He scoffs, returning to swoon over the sky. “It’s the best part,” he sighs. “Take off. When you know everything is running asit should, and nothing can stop you. Free to go anywhere—do anything. Just the open air and endless horizon.” When his cheeks flame red, realizing how much he just gushed over an airplane, he peers down at where I’m still on my back, gazing up at him.

“Sorry. I get…excited.”

“That should be you,” I nod towards where he wants to be, "up there, flying that plane.”

He shakes his head. “Wasn’t meant to be.”

Bullshit.

Lifting on my elbow, I twist so I’m on my side, and we are at eye level. “I’ve never seenanyonelight up over something like you did now, Hunter. That kind of passion doesn’t come naturally for everyone.”

“Passions aren’t always something that can be pursued, though.”

“I disagree.” Leaning in, wanting these words to matter and be solely for him and not my own projections, I whisper, “You just have to be brave enough to go for it. No matter what anyone says or the shit that might stand in your way. If you want it badly enough, living for a passion will always be more rewarding than accepting an existence without it.”

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