Page 88 of Off the Mark
I felt a whisper of unease at the reminder that Rowan had never been the type of guy to hang around. That twice in the span of two weeks I found myself trusting Rowan far more than I usually trusted other people. There’d been a raw candor in all that he’d admitted to me this morning though, the worry he’d had that a part of him was broken.
It had surprised me, coming from a person who wore his confidence like a second skin.
“Speaking of amateur…” I fished my keys from my pocket and unlocked the passenger door. “I wanted to get flowers for your grandmother but couldn’t decide what she’d like so I bought, like, five different bouquets. Do you think these are stupid?”
I extended my hands, clutching a bizarre-looking variety of flowers, their multicolored heads bobbing.
“Actually, don’t answer that. It is stupid. She’s gonna think—”
Rowan’s hands came around to cup mine. “I bring my grandmother flowers at least once a week because she happens to love them.” He swallowed. “Also, my dad used to do the same thing. Every Sunday. So it does mean something to her.”
My heart flipped around and around. “Your dad sounds like he was a great guy. I can see where you get it from.”
Our eyes held, an electric energy dancing like fireflies between us in the darkening summer night.
“I’m genuinely happy you’re here, Charlie,” he said.
“I’m genuinely happy you asked me.”
Hands entwined, Rowan and I walked toward dinner, our shoulders brushing, and I realized too late how casually I’d described Rowan as my “boyfriend” without adding the word “fake” in front of it.
And how natural it had been to take his hand without first having to stage it.
“Is this where you grew up?” I asked, gazing around at the connected brick row homes, the stoops, the cracked sidewalk. I could hear the low hum of city sounds, smell the scent of someone lighting up a barbecue.
He nodded. “Before I came here, my parents and I lived about ten blocks west. The street looked about the same though. But there’s always been somethin’ special about Emily Street.”
He pointed out a narrow lot with small trees, planter beds, string lights, and picnic tables. A wrought-iron entrance saidWelcome to Annie’s Pocket Park.
“Dean and Tabitha got the neighbors together to build that. After Annie passed away, that lot sat abandoned until we made it our own. She was like the block mayor, you know? Though now that’s Eddie’s job. In everyone’s business, whether they like it or not.”
I returned a surprised wave to a woman who’d waved at me as she watered the flowers in her window box. A group of older kids loped by, calling out friendly greetings to Rowan before turning the corner.
“Are you sure you’re not the mayor of this block?” I asked.
“Eh, I don’t live on this block anymore. But maybespiritually?”
“It’s because of the rec center, isn’t it?”
“That probably has something to do with it. I’m also Alice O’Callaghan’s grandson and, well, you’ll meet her and see why I’m popular by association.”
We arrived at a row home that looked the same as everybody else’s, though small details were different. The worn lawn chairs on the sidewalk. The newly painted blue door that I assumed was Rowan’s doing. The air conditioning unit dripping a few drops from the second-floor window.
“Home sweet home,” Rowan said.
The door swung open, revealing a pretty, red-headed woman with a toothy smile, wearing a tank top that saidBisexual Icon. “Not to be too weird right off the bat, but I’m Tabitha, Dean’s wife, and also I’ve known Rowan since I was a kid and basically I’m super stoked to meet you.”
She looked over her shoulder, then whispered, “And I know your secret but I’ll take it to my grave.”
Then she threw her arms around me in a hug that almost knocked me over.
“Um…hi?” I said, unsure of what to do with my own arms.
She pulled back, still smiling. “Rowan probably didn’t tell you this, but I went to film school with Rebecca Ortega, so I was a fan even before Rowan told me about you.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Are you serious? Rebecca did an incredible job with that short she made. Usually a lot of the stuff I say ends up getting cut, but she kept it in.”
“Because you were the best and most interesting rider, duh,” Tabitha said.
