Page 45 of Chasing Lyric
I reach across, doing up my belt as he turns on the truck, then we’re off. It might be night, a complete contrast to how we were last time we were in this truck together, but I can’t help but flashback to taking Doughnut home. I miss him. I hope he’s doing all right, the cute little billy goat.
“He’s fine, I promise. Rip loves that goat more than himself,” he answers my unspoken question.
“You a psychic now, Chase?”
He laughs. “No, I just know that look. Trust me, Doughnut’s fine.”
I nod as he drives up Jefferson Boulevard, then turns down Hetzler Road with signs leading toward the Baldwin Hills Scenic Lookout.
I’m confused.
It usually shuts at five in the afternoon.
So why the fuck is he bringing me here?
He pulls up, turning off the ignition. The gate’s closed, but he still moves to get out. “Feeling rebellious?”
I open my eyes wide. “Ahhh… what? Can we get arrested for trespassing?”
He tilts his head. “Yeah, probably, if we get caught.”
I giggle at his blasé attitude. “Then,hell yes.”
He seems surprised by my immediate acceptance as I jump out of the truck. We round the front, then head for the gate. I duck down, keeping my steps lighter than usual, trying not to make a sound. I move, hiding behind the bushes while Chase walks normally, being completely obvious and not hiding at all.
“Chase. Psst… Chase, you’re being too conspicuous. Get over here,” I whisper in a stern voice.
He strides up to the gate, rattling the lock with careless abandon. I tense as he peeks up and over the fence.
“You don’t expect me to climb over that thing, do you?” I whisper loudly.
His eyes wander me up and down. “Could you?”
I tilt my head while he fiddles with the gate. “I mean… I guess, but my dress is long and my shoes aren’t really appropri—” I stop talking as my eyes widen.
Suddenly, the gate is open.
“How the?”
“Tricks of the trade, m’lady. C’mon.”
He reaches for my hand, and I slip out from behind the bush, nerves sparking with the rush of what we are doing. We’re breaking and entering. And heck, if it doesn’t feel exhilarating.
Chase tugs me forward, and suddenly we’re running, feet pounding against the path, laughter tumbling from us in wild bursts. The night air whips at my skin, hot with the rush of living on the edge, until we spill out onto a wide concrete platform perched on the edge of the hill. We skid to a stop, chests heaving, breathless and alive.
Then I look up, look out, and my lungs forget how to work altogether.
The city sprawls below us in a sea of glittering light, the vastness of LA unfurling like a galaxy laid at our feet. I gasp, and Chase’s grip on my hand tightens as if to steady me against the sheer immensity of it all.
It’s stunning.
Utterlystunning.
The lights twinkle against the onyx sky, like a fairyland has cracked open just for us. I’ve stood here before, during the day, when it was just a lookout, nothing more. But at night? At night, it’s transformed into something else entirely, a secret, a spell, a paradise carved out for lovers.
Chase leans into my side, and the air shifts. The pressure thickens, charged, as if the atoms themselves have been rewired to bend toward us. It hums in my veins as if sparklers are going off beneath my skin. I don’t even have to look at him to know his gaze is on me.
I can feel it, hot and unrelenting, searing along my skin like a brand.
