Chapter 78 78

Chapter 78 78
Roman's POV

"Your mum's birthday?" I asked, and she smiled and nodded.

"Correcto mundo, Captain Foster."

I noticed then that she was shivering. Her black dress was sheer and offered no real protection against the biting lake breeze. Her jaw was trembling slightly, and her fingers were pressed tightly against her sides.

"Hey... can I hold you for a second?" I asked tentatively. "You're freezing."

Harmony appeared startled by the offer, her eyes widening slightly as she looked up at me. I could see all her walls going up almost immediately, that familiar, stubborn guard snapping back into place as she probably prepared to tell me she was perfectly fine on her own. But then, she sighed and nodded, her shoulders losing their tight edge.

"Yeah, sure. Hold me."

I reached out and gently put my arm around her shoulder, careful not to be too rough, and pulled her close to my side. I wrapped my arm securely around her upper body, bringing her small frame against the thick, warm fabric of my heavy hockey hoodie. My palm moved up and down her arm to get the blood flowing, and I noticed that she was holding herself stiffly, her arms crossed tightly over her own chest, as if she didn't trust herself not to melt into the embrace if she let go of her own grip.

Not for the first or second time, I wondered what else had happened in her past for her to be like this. Was it just the loss of her parents and the fact that she had to survive on her own as a kid and teenager? Or was there something deeper, a total lack of safety that made her treat every single human connection like a threat to her survival? She held herself together like a soldier waiting for the next blow to fall, even when someone was just trying to keep her warm.

The wind swept over the shoreline, scattering the dry sand around our shoes.

"Happy birthday, Mom," Harmony murmured, directed entirely toward the dark, endless expanse of the water.

"Happy birthday," I whispered into the quiet night too.

Then, to my utter surprise, Harmony leaned her head against my shoulder, letting the wind carry her hair across my chest. I stayed right there, almost scared to move lest she got scared and pulled away back into her shell.

The stoic Harmony Sinclair, who was like a human brick wall every single hour of the day, was finally letting her guard down around me. She was always the one taking charge, refusing to show an ounce of weakness to anyone. But right here on the cold sand, she was just a girl missing her mother, letting someone else hold her for a few minutes. I kept my arm around her shoulder as we stared out at the black lake.

"Do you want corn dogs?" I asked.

She turned to look at me in surprise. "Really? I didn't bring you here to eat corn dogs."

"I'm sure you didn't, but there's a stand over there." I pointed down the beach. "Race you to it?"

She laughed. "You want to race me to a corn dog stand?"

"I want to beat you to a corn dog stand."

"Roman, I'm wearing really tight sneakers, and you're an athlete. This isn't fair."

"That's the point." I was already grinning. "Come on. Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared." But she was already backing away, her eyes bright with reluctance. "I'm just being realistic about the odds."

"So that's a no?"

"That's a hell no."

I took a step toward her. "Are you scared, Sinclair?"

"Stop trying to goad me into this."

"Is it working?"

She stared at me for several seconds, then kicked off her sneakers and took off down the beach without warning.

I laughed and went after her. The sand was harder packed near the water, so we were both fast as we moved hard, both breathing heavily. She was faster than I expected, but I had longer legs and I caught up to her just before the stand, passing her with maybe five feet to spare.

I touched the wooden post of the stand first and turned around, panting and grinning at her. Harmony came up beside me a few seconds later. Her face was flushed, her fiery hair completely undone from the ponytail that had been holding it in place before. She was breathing just as hard as I was.

"That's not fair," she said between breaths. "You're a hockey player. You have an unfair advantage."

"Nah, Sinclair, I won fair and square."

"You have legs like tree trunks and you train for a living. How is that fair?"

I was still laughing as I steered her towards the waiting corndogs. "Come on. Let me get you a corn dog."

We ordered and paid, and I got us both drinks too. Harmony went back to get her shoes. Then we walked back down the beach to find a spot and sat down on the sand. Harmony started to bite into her corn dogs like she hadn't eaten in days. Given the mood she had been in, I was pretty sure that was true anyway.

We ate in comfortable silence for a while, and then she spoke up, "Benji wasn't always like this, you know," she murmured, picking at the wooden stick in her hand. "When we were kids, before everything fell apart, he was actually really funny. He used to make my mum laugh so hard she'd cry. I keep thinking that person is still inside there somewhere. Maybe if things had gone differently, if someone had helped us back then instead of leaving two kids to figure it all out alone, he would have turned out differently." 

She let out a tired sigh. "I know that's probably stupid."

It wasn't stupid, but I didn't say anything. I just finished my corn dog and looked out at the ocean, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with all of this.

We moved back to the shoreline after we ate, finding a spot where the sand was dry and soft. We sat closer than we probably needed to, and the sun was starting to dip lower, casting everything in golden light. Harmony had her knees pulled up to her chest and she was looking out at the water with a soft smile on her face. But I was looking at her.

Perhaps it was just the simple fact that we were alone and physically close, but she began to lean toward me again. I met her halfway, and before we could hold ourselves back, we were kissing.