CHAPTER SIXTEEN* * *AMBER“This is a surprise. You don’t normally call me at this time. Is everything okay?” he asked.
I was out with Milo when I decided to call Channing at work one afternoon.
“Do you think you could sneak out early to hang out with Milo and me? The weather is unseasonably warm, and I was thinking of taking him to walk around the city a bit. I could use the extra hand.”
Of course, that was just an excuse. I’d missed Channing a lot this week and really just wanted to hang out with him. Milo really seemed to like him, so it was a win-win situation.
“What time were you thinking?” he asked.
“What time do you normally get off?”
“Get off? He snickered. “Saturdays.”
“Funny guy.” I rolled my eyes. “Can you leave work by five?”
“Yeah, that’s not too early. I can swing it.”
“Great. You can meet us at the New England Aquarium. I was going to take him there for about an hour before we meet you. You’ll just take the train to Aquarium Station instead of your usual stop.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you soon.”***Standing in front of the massive ocean tank, I looked over at Milo. He was leaning his hands against the glass as his eyes followed the path of the fish floating by. A bluish green hue was glowing over his skin.
Distant applause coming from a dolphin show in another part of the building could be heard while swarms of children on a field trip lined the area behind us.
My phone buzzed.Channing: Decided to skip out earlier. I’m at the aquarium. Where are you guys?Amber: Not far from the entrance over by the giant fish tank.A large swordfish swam past in the giant tank.
I pointed, “Milo, look at the sword on that one.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Channing joked as he snuck up behind me. Chills ran down my spine as the heat of his body resonated at my back.
“Hey.” I smiled.
He rustled Milo’s hair. “Hey, man.” Milo proceeded to sniff attack Channing’s head, grabbing it with both hands.
Channing laughed. “Oh, yeah. Get a good whiff. That’s good.”
Milo then wrapped his arm around Channing and returned his attention to the fish. They stayed like that watching the fish pass by. It was so stinking adorable.
I looked over at Channing and saw that instead of looking at the fish, he had been looking at me. His eyes were glowing in the fluorescent light. They were almost an exact match to the adjacent aquamarine water.
He smiled, and I smiled back. It was one of several moments of silent mutual admiration like that we’d shared this week.
Then, he did something that he’d never done before: he broke the rules. Channing reached for my hand. With my fingers interlocked with his, the warmest feeling came over me. After everything we’d done, you’d think that simple gesture wouldn’t have affected me like it did. But there was something very intimate about it. And it shifted things for me. It shifted my expectations, and that was probably dangerous.
We’d had three hotel rendezvous thus far. The last time was the most intense. I’d let him do things to my body that Rory hadn’t even tried. With each meeting, I was growing more and more attached, not only in body but in mind. The hopeful thoughts in my head needed to go take a hike.
Why couldn’t he stay?
Why couldn’t we be more than fuck buddies?
Milo suddenly jerked his body back before running down the concourse. He’d apparently had enough of the giant fish tank. Channing and I both started running.
Once we caught up to him, the three of us exited the building. The aquarium was located down by the Seaport, so it was extremely chilly near the ocean. The faint smell of fish lingered in the air. I hadn’t dressed appropriately, so Channing bought me a pink hoodie that said Boston on it in navy lettering from one of the nearby vendors.
“Where do you want to go now?” Channing asked, his chestnut hair blowing in the wind.
“We should get dinner.”
“There’s this Italian place I heard about in the North End,” he said.
“Italian place in the North End? You don’t say.” Seeing as though the North End was the Italian section of Boston, I was totally joking.
“Yes, wiseass.” Channing was looking at me like he wanted to smack me hard on the ass. “It’s called Fantano’s. You heard of it?”
“No, but Milo loves Italian, and I’m down to try anything.”
He lowered his voice. “I know you are. I figured that out last weekend.”
I must have been blushing like an idiot as we began our evening stroll. It was a beautiful night, and since we weren’t all that far from the North End, we decided to walk all the way to the restaurant.
On the way, lights flashed from a field in the distance and that was when I saw it: a massive Ferris wheel. Then, other rides came into my line of sight. There was a carnival in town.