“Because I know you’re an only child. I’ve known you since you were a baby, remember?” He opened his eyes wide for emphasis. “I know a lot about you.”
I had forgotten about that little fact. For a while, we had just been a couple of people getting to know each other. I knew I had a sour look on my face when Lucian added, “Not everything though. There’s a lot I don’t know about you.”
“What don’t you know about me?”
“I can’t read your mind.”
“Oh, big deal. So you don’t know what I’m thinking? Most people can’t read minds. How did you know I told my mom about the securities thing? We were whispering in the other room. By the way, are my parents’ angels in here with us?”
“No, they’re outside—two females. I’ve known them since you were born. They hang out on that old porch swing, smoking cigarettes… menthols. Your mom always thought your dad was sneaking cigarettes.”
I laughed. I knew about that. I remember her accusing him once.
“They’re usually really nice,” he said, “but they gave me a dirty look when we walked up, so I didn’t say anything.” He clenched his teeth like the angels outside might be a problem.
“You never answered me. How’d you know what I told my mom if you can’t read minds?”
“I can hear you from far away when you’re speaking aloud. But I can’t hear your thoughts. Sometimes when I’m worried about you”—his lips moved closer to mine—“I wish I could hear your thoughts, but other times, I’m glad you’re a mystery to me.”
I pecked him on the lips and pulled away. “I’m the mystery?”
His eyes moved to my mouth. “I don’t understand anything anymore.” He pulled my body flush with his. “I just know this feels right and good.”
I believed Lucian was grappling with something far bigger than even my own disbelief of what was happening and what he was. I had always been of a very sound mind. There was never a time, even in my young childhood, when I imagined things that weren’t there or made up stories in my head. Now I was kissing my guardian angel in my childhood bedroom in Oakland, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted him to put his hand up my shirt. That was where my head was at. In the gutter would be an understatement. Lucian knew he had that effect on me. He knew I would never be able to get him out of my system.
We finished an early dinner with my parents, then Lucian and I spent the rest of the evening running around town, doing the things Lucian said he had never been able to enjoy. We went bowling and drove go-carts and watched twenty minutes of a cheesy romantic comedy in an old theater. I couldn’t even remember what it was about because we were basically making out in the back the whole time. He didn’t do anything angel-like that night. We walked from the Wharf to Ghirardelli Square and shared a giant ice cream sundae. We were a normal couple.
Back at my apartment, I drank a glass of wine and Lucian had tea. We made smooth, sleepy love. It was effortless. It was blissful.
Brooklyn knocked on my door at two in the morning. I was sleeping, but of course Lucian was just lying there, perfectly still… watching me. The idea sounds unnerving, but he was always watching me, and so I became accustomed to it quickly.
“Brooklyn’s at the door,” he whispered.
I got up and pulled a blanket off the end of the bed to cover myself. “Hold on, Brooke.”
When I got to the door and looked back, Lucian was sprawled on the bed without any modesty. I ran back over and covered him with the sheet. He just smirked at me.
“Oh, stop it,” I said to him.
When I opened the door, Brooke scowled. “Geez, took you long enough.”
“What’s up? It’s late. I have to work tomorrow.”
She leaned to one side of me to peer into the room. I looked back to see Lucian wave to her and smile.
Near my ear, she said, “Was just making sure you were okay.”
“That’s the first time you’ve ever done that,” I told her.
“That’s not true.” She was still trying to look around me, but I was blocking her.
“We’re fine, thanks.”
“What’s up with you and him?” she asked.
“We’re having mind-blowing sex in here, Brooklyn, can you leave us alone?” Lucian called out.
Her eyes widened.
“He’s kidding,” I said. “We were sleeping, and now we are going back to sleep and you are going to your room.”
She shook her head. “Whatever. We’ll talk later.”
When I crawled back into bed with Lucian, he was pretending to be asleep, even fake snoring. I tickled him under the arms. He squirmed but kept his eyes closed. “You’re ticklish,” I teased. I was relentless until he literally begged me to stop.
“Please,” he said, “I’ll tell you anything you have ever wanted to know.”
I stopped. “Anything?”
“Anything,” he said.
“What was the one time you saw me naked? You mentioned that before.”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose and out of his mouth. “It was a couple of years ago. I was hanging out on your fireplace mantel, just bored. You and Brooklyn were getting ready to go out. Did I mention that I was bored?”
I rolled my eyes. “Go on.”
“You called out something from the bathroom. I can’t remember exactly what it was. You said you thought your breasts were crooked.”