It felt like adjusting the focus on a camera and seeing Sam clearly for the first time. It wasn’t that he was paranoid, or a conspiracy theorist. He was a heartbroken son who’d lost his mom way too young, and he’d been trying to make sense of it ever since. Maybe he also wanted someone to blame, because anger was easier to deal with than grief.

  Even though I felt confident our employer was on our side, it was important to show Sam I supported him. I took my phone from my pocket, picked up a butter knife, and started to pry off the back as I asked, “Do you know what a tracking device looks like?”

  “I do. And in case you’re wondering, I already made sure the GPS was shut off on both phones. I just wish I’d gone through everything sooner. If they are tracking us, then they already know about this place.”

  “Let’s see what we find.”

  Sam stuck a stray lock of hair behind his ear and glanced at me. “I realize I’m probably way off base with all of this, but I hate sitting around feeling helpless. At least this way, I feel like I’m doing something to try to improve our situation.”

  “I get it.”

  He finished with his phone and moved on to the stun gun. When I noticed the way he was prying it open, I told him, “I’m not sure that’s safe.”

  “Don’t worry. I took out the battery.”

  “But it can also be charged by plugging it into an outlet, so it might be holding a residual charge.” As those words left my lips, a buzzing sound rang out. Sam yelped and fell backwards, and I leapt up so quickly that my barstool tumbled over.

  I shouted his name and raced around the kitchen island. He was splayed out on the wood floor, and as I crouched down beside him, he murmured, “Ow.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “That hurt. But I barely grazed the wires, so I don’t think I got the full effect.”

  “Want me to help you to the couch?”

  “Actually, I think I just want to lie here for a minute.” I curled up on the floor beside him, and he said, “Thanks for not saying I told you so.”

  “It’s taking a lot of effort.” That made him grin.

  “I’ve been on a quest to convince you I’m not a total dumbass, but that probably took me back to square one.”

  “I know you’re not, Sam.”

  He rolled onto his side so we were facing each other and searched my eyes. After a moment, he asked softly, “Would you ever want a guy like me?”

  “Yes! God yes. I’m the one who’s worried you wouldn’t want someone like me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because your ex is a big, beefy jock, and if that’s your type⁠—”

  “It’s not. We never fit together.” He reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “I know it’s not the best timing with everything that’s going on right now, but I like you, Andy, and I want us to be more than friends.”

  “I want that, too. It’s scary for me to take the plunge though, because my love life has always been a huge disaster. I’ve been hurt so many times that at some point I stopped trying.”

  “I understand, but please give me a chance, Andy. I’ll spend every day proving you can trust me.”

  He was so sweet and hopeful. I remembered what Moira had said—be brave. With my heart thudding in my ears, I leaned in and kissed him. It started out light and tentative, almost a question. Sam answered by pulling me closer and deepening the kiss.

  In the next instant, the attraction between us ignited.

  I wanted him like I’d never wanted anyone or anything in my entire life. My hands were shaking as I stripped myself, and then he helped me as I fumbled to get his clothes off.

  As soon as we were both naked, we began exploring every part of each other. I licked and kissed his neck and shoulders and chest while my hands slid over his smooth skin. He was absolutely intoxicating.

  When he pushed me onto my back and started sucking my cock, it was all I could do not to come in two seconds flat. I propped myself up on my elbows, because I needed to watch him. Sam was totally lost in the moment, grasping my hips with both hands. He slid his lips all the way down my shaft, then pulled back to the tip before plunging down again.

  I sank my fingers into his hair, and he looked up at me. The moment our eyes met, everything intensified. A moan tumbled from me as he started sucking harder and faster. He took me right to the brink and held me there for a few moments, slowing his pace. Then he sped up again and sent me crashing over the edge.

  A tremor ran through me, and I yelled as I shot down his throat. I was sure I’d never come that hard before. It went on and on, and by the time it ended, I was weak and shaky.

  There was no way I was going to leave him hanging though, so I shifted around and wrapped my lips around his thick cock. When I started sucking him, a sound that was almost a growl reverberated in his chest.

  It was gratifying to see the way he responded, and he ended up coming in a matter of minutes. I swallowed his load while his body bucked and shook beneath me, and afterwards, both of us fell back onto the floor. Sam was still reeling, but his hand found mine and he held onto it while he caught his breath.

  When he could speak again, he rolled onto his side facing me and murmured, “That was incredible.”

  We moved closer to each other, so our bodies were pressed together and my head was tucked under his chin. The skin-to-skin contact felt wonderful. I hadn’t even realized how touch starved I’d been until that moment.

  I probably would have stayed like that all night, but we started to shiver as the sweat cooled on our skin. We got up and dressed quickly, and he took my hand again and led me into the living room.

  He found me a blanket and began building a fire. When the kindling caught, he joined me on the couch, wrapping himself around me with his chest pressed to my back. I was so happy and content that I found myself grinning.

  After a while, he said, “I’ve been thinking about what we can do to pass the time while we’re here—aside from a whole lot more of what we just did, obviously.”

  “I saw some playing cards, so I guess I can look forward to beating you about six hundred times in gin rummy.”

  He chuckled at that. “No. I mean, probably, but I actually came up with two ideas. First, I think it’d be fun to teach each other.”

  “Teach each other what, exactly?”

  “Anything. When I’m at home, I like watching how-to videos on the internet—building, cooking, fitness, whatever. What if we do that for each other? For example, I’ve spent a long time perfecting my recipe for minestrone soup. I bought the ingredients for it back at the general store, and I was planning on that for dinner. If you want, I can teach you how to make it.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “What’s something you could teach me?”

  I thought about it before saying, “How about yoga? Moira made me take classes with her for three years, so I’m pretty good at it.”

  “Perfect. You also mentioned you’d taken a self-defense class, so you could show me what you learned. Then I can show you what I learned when I was training to become a bodyguard.”

  “I like this idea.” I shifted a little, so I was using his bicep as a pillow.

  “Me, too.”

  “What was your other idea for passing the time? You said you had two of them.”

  “I want to help you learn to use your superpower.” I raised an eyebrow and glanced at him over my shoulder. “You see it as a negative, because you sometimes lose control over it. But powers can be fine-tuned and developed. It just takes time, and we have plenty of that right now.”

  “I can’t really imagine how it could be fine-tuned, but I’d like to work on getting better control over it.”

  “Great. Want to start now? We could go out on the deck and see if there’s a squirrel or something to call.”

  I shook my head. “Let’s start tomorrow. Right now, there’s nothing I’d rather do than this.”

  After a blissfully lazy afternoon spent talking and relaxing, we cooked dinner together. As promised, he taught me his recipe, and we made a huge pot of hearty soup.

  The temperature plummeted after sunset, so it was the perfect choice for dinner. It was delicious too, and when I told him that, he looked pleased. “It’s even better the next day,” he said.

  “That’s my favorite way to cook, by making a lot of something and ending up with leftovers for days. I’m definitely making this for my family when I get home.”

  “Invite me over and I’ll help you.”

  “I will.”

  That got me thinking. What would life look like when our time on the run was over? Would Sam and I return to San Francisco as a couple? We fit together effortlessly right now, but we were living in a world without distractions or real life getting in the way.

  Not that I wanted to overthink this, the way I overthought everything. It was too soon to ask where this was going. I just needed to relax and take things one day at a time.

  When bedtime rolled around, I said good night to Sam and gave him a hug before heading to my room. It had made sense to sleep in separate bedrooms when I’d mentioned it earlier. He probably wanted some privacy, and some time to himself. But I regretted suggesting it within two minutes of climbing under the covers.

  The house was way too quiet, and the darkness was unnerving. It was never that dark or that quiet in the city. More than that, I missed Sam—his company, his body heat, all of him. It would be so much better if we were sharing a bed. I didn’t want to seem clingy though, so I stayed where I was.

  Five minutes later, a light knock pulled me out of my thoughts. When I called, “Come in,” Sam opened the door and stuck his head in.

  “I don’t want to seem clingy,” he said, “but I miss you. Also, it’s way too fucking quiet here, and it’s creeping me out.”

  “I was thinking the same thing!”

  I slid over and held up the blanket, and he climbed into bed with me. As we snuggled together, he whispered, “This is so much better.” It really was.

  CHAPTER 14

  SAM

  It felt great to wake up beside Andy again. I’d tried to talk myself out of coming to his room the night before, because I didn’t want to seem needy. But I’d caved just a few minutes after we went to bed, and I was so glad I did. He was so warm and cuddly, and I loved the way he burrowed into my arms when he was just starting to wake up.

  We lingered in bed for a while, before finally getting up and starting our day with some yoga. Andy took his job as my instructor very seriously, demonstrating each pose before guiding me as I attempted to replicate it. I was nowhere near as flexible as he was, and it turned out my balance was awful, but I gave it my all.

  Finally, after about forty minutes, I released the last pose and tackled him. He chuckled as I kissed his stomach, which had been exposed when his T-shirt rode up. Then he asked, “Did you hate every minute of that?”

  “I hated feeling uncoordinated. But I liked everything else, especially the eye candy.”

  “What eye candy?”

  I propped my head up with one hand and raised a brow. “You, of course. Your body is gorgeous, and your strength is sexy.”

  “I’m not strong. Not like you.”

  “Sure you are. You might have a leaner build than I do, but you’re powerful. That’s why you were able to hold those poses ten times longer than I could.”

  “I’ve just had more practice.”

  “You’re terrible at taking a compliment.”

  “I know.” He got up and said, “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “Me, too. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes.”

  Andy and I headed off in different directions, and after we both showered and got dressed, we made breakfast together. We were in sync as we moved around the kitchen, as if we’d been a couple for years and had done this a million times. There was something very comforting about that.

  After we ate and cleaned up, we brought mugs of coffee out to the deck and settled onto a pair of Adirondack chairs. Over breakfast, he’d told me we could work on developing his superpower, so I said, “Before we start, can we talk about the times you lost control of your power?”

  “Do we have to?”

  “I think understanding it is an important part of learning to control it. Don’t you?”

  He frowned and moved his glasses to the top of his head. “You’re right. It’s just hard to talk about it. Losing control of my power was always humiliating, especially when I was younger.”

  “I’m not here to judge you, Andy. I’m here to help.”

  He murmured, “I know,” and turned his gaze to the mountains in the distance. I had no idea if he could actually see them without his glasses. After a moment, he told me, “The most embarrassing incident happened at my high school graduation. It was right after the speeches, when they were getting ready to call us up to the stage one by one for our diplomas. My mind wandered, and the next thing I knew, I’d summoned what looked like every seagull in San Francisco. The crowd freaked out. They jumped up and were running and shouting. That startled the birds, so they started shitting on everyone.”

  I bit my lip to stop myself from chuckling, and Andy glanced at me. “Go ahead and laugh. If I hadn’t been the one to cause it, I would have found it hilarious. Instead, I was mortified. Everyone was so angry at me. Worst of all, it happened in front of my dad. It was the first and last time he visited.”

  “Does he have powers?”

  “Minor telekinesis—he can move small, light objects. If he ever lost control of it, not much would happen. Maybe he’d knock over an empty soda can, but that’s about it. He definitely couldn’t relate to what I’d done.”

  “How did people know you were the one to blame?”

  “Most of my classmates had experienced me losing control at some point or another during our years together in school, so when the birds showed up they immediately assumed it was me. I confirmed it by apologizing, both that day and later on, through a public apology.”

  “I’m sorry. All of that must have been tough.”

  “It sucked.”

  “Do you remember what you were thinking right before you summoned the seagulls?”

  His brow creased as he searched his memories. After a few moments, he said, “I’m not sure, but I know I didn’t want to be there. If my dad hadn’t flown in from Korea to see me graduate, I would have skipped the ceremony.”

  “Why?”

  “I had a hard time in school, and I just wanted it to be over with. I never fit in, and I didn’t have any friends, except for Moira. They’d arranged us alphabetically, so we weren’t sitting together. All around me, my classmates were talking, laughing, passing around a flask someone had smuggled in, and making plans to meet up at a big party which was happening that night. But of course, no one included me. I knew it would be like that.”

  “What about the most recent time you accidentally set off your powers? What was happening?”

  He shifted a bit and tucked his feet under him. “I hadn’t lost control in a while, but then I had two incidents in a short period of time. Most recently, I called a bunch of cats when I was sitting on the fire escape outside my bedroom. Before that, I was out for a run, and next thing I knew, I was getting chased by a bunch of raccoons.”

  “When was that?”

  “It happened shortly before dawn, the morning of my first day at SPAM.”

  “Do you always run so early?”

  “No. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get it over with,” he said. “I didn’t like it, though. The city was eerily quiet and empty at that hour. It usually doesn’t feel like that.”

  “Can you spot a common thread between those three incidents?”

  Andy shrugged. “I was unhappy, but that’s not enough to set off my powers. If that was all it took, I would’ve set them off every single day during high school.”

  “What was going on when you called the cats?”

  He thought about it before saying, “Moira was with her fiancé, and Mom and Julie were out with friends. So, I was by myself, and…”

  “Lonely?” He nodded. “Maybe that’s the common thread, the thing that sets off your power unintentionally.”

  “If so, that’s pathetic.”

  “No, it isn’t. We all get lonely, Andy. Maybe your subconscious figured out a way to deal with it.”

  “By calling a bunch of animals? Then what am I supposed to do? Make friends with them, run off to live together in Golden Gate Park, and become the Tarzan of the raccoon world?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “How’s knowing this going to help me? I can’t set the goal of never being lonely.”

  “No, but knowledge is power. The more you understand what’s going on, the better your chances of controlling what happens.” He nodded and looked away. After a minute, I asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m just tired of being this guy. I wish I was powerful, instead of some weirdo with the worst superpower ever.”

  “You’re incredibly powerful! Do you realize what would happen if you put out a general call, right now, in this location? Hundreds of animals would come running.”

  Andy looked horrified. “It would be absolute carnage. The bears would try to eat the deer, the skunks would go off like bombs, the squirrels and raccoons would probably start a gang fight⁠—”

  “I know, but that’s still raw, undeniable power. To be clear, I’m not suggesting you try it, only that it would be astonishing.”

  “Yes. An animal tidal wave would be astonishing, in the same way earthquakes or other natural disasters are.”

  “Let’s approach this another way.” I got up and walked to the edge of the deck. “If you get real control over your power, maybe you’ll stop seeing it as a negative.”

  “Okay. How do I do that?”

  “Practice. Try using it intentionally. You’ve done that before, right? Calling animals on purpose, instead of by accident?”

 

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