Page 88 of On Fire

“You think you’re ready to give up Boston?” Finn says to Nic.

“I’m not giving it up. I’m keeping the apartment. I mean I have to—Nikki’s picture is on the fridge.”

“And there’s art on the walls and some throws now,” I add, nodding. All the redecorating, due to me. I spent days down there, trying to warm up the place.

“It’ll be our weekend getaway apartment. And, of course, you’ll all be given the passcode for your own retreats.”

Finn smiles. “We’ll need a schedule—no overlapping. Could get awkward.”

Nic laughs and leans back on his elbows. Those abs tighten with effort, then relax, and I sigh.

Nic ran the Boston Marathon and made a personal best time of two hours, forty-eight minutes. Watching him finish, I thought I was going to die. It looked horribly painful. I remember rushing up to him and wrapping him in mylar and shoving oranges in his face.

He didn’t want to stay for the afterparty of food and screaming people, thank God, so we left for his apartment. I had to wash his hair because he couldn’t get his hands up over his head. Then he crashed facedown onto the bed and slept for two hours. When he woke, wearing nothing but an untied bathrobe and some tight underwear, he sauntered out to the kitchen where I was making pasta sauce.

He kissed me, shrugged off the robe, and started stretching out. I got to watch all those lean muscles in play. After about fifteen minutes he was exhausted again and sank heavily into the sofa. I went wall-eyed trying to watch him and make the sauce.

I ended up taking a cold shower.

Since then, he’s slowed his training and has been running with Mateus. It’s impressive watching them run along the beach at the same pace, both men barefoot, and Mateus with his blade.

Nic jostles me on the beach and nods to Finn, who’s speaking. I come back to present conversation.

“And how’s the renovation going, Keller? I keep seeing large, ominous trucks heading your way.” Finn jerks a thumb in the vague direction of the Ink Dot.

We sat down with an architect last February to design an addition. There’s nearly an acre and a half up on the mountain behind the house. I was forced to admit that as much as I loved my Hobbit house, we needed more room. Especially if we ever have children.

It was Luke who made the most forceful arguments. Nic would just smile and shrug. “He’s got a point,” was all he would say.

And Luke did. Many of them.

Without touching the original house, we came up with plans for a great room with two bedrooms near the house end. Then there’s a newly landscaped back patio area with a sauna, a sunken hot tub, slung chairs and firepit.

I have to pinch myself. Nic paid for it all, wouldn’t let me contribute a dime, and he was so matter of fact about it. “No big deal. You’re the one sacrificing,” he said the first day a cement mixer arrived.

He doesn’t get it. It’s not a sacrifice having him in my life. It’s a blessing. When I told him that, he touched my face and kissed me, dragging fingers through my hair.

But he is a blessing. So are the Russos. The guys at the station. My life has changed so much in nine months, I can’t believe it. It’s not all easy. There are definitely times I feel Nic and I get looks, but that’s okay. They could just be thinking what is this polished, good-looking guy doing with him?

I consider that a legit question.

The first time Nic showed up at the station to pick me up for dinner, it was Matt and McKinley who shouted out, “Oooo, hot date, hot date!” as I climbed into the car. Though I was waving them off, I was so touched.

When Nic shoved his hand out the window and flipped them off with a smile, they whooped louder.

Two months later I was coaching co-ed soccer for parks and rec again. There’s a message on my phone from the middle school in Rockland to help out with the girls’ team this fall.

And then there’s the other side, or some side, all sides, I guess—where I met Nic’s friends. Henry’s partner, Stephan, renamed the bar Henry’s. It reopened last month to a thronging mash-up of just about everyone you could imagine. Community leaders were there, news crews, and me and Nic. I never knew I could feel comfortable in a situation like that—one foot in the world of Nic, and being in love, exploring another person and the other foot in the world of my work and the station.

I never dreamed my life could look like this. Feel like this. Be like this. Like Nic said just this morning, we have “The best of both worlds.”

I can’t explain all this to Finn on a beach, so to answer his question, I just say, “It’s going good.”

Finn rises and leaves us, levering support from Nic’s shoulder and brushing sand from his still damp suit. Now it’s just the two of us. I pull the umbrella down more. Behind the red canvas, I push Nic onto his back, shove an arm under his neck, lift his face to mine, and kiss him.

Nic Silvano

So far, our day off is perfect. I’m so glad we’ve had time to spend with baby Nikki on the beach. It’s been amazing to watch Finn step so effortlessly into fatherhood.