The February air was crisp, carrying the faintest chill as Larry guided Lauren down the pathway.
It was quiet, the kind of peaceful silence that made everything feel more intimate, more alive.
The city hummed in the distance, but here, in this small pocket of the world, it was just the two of them.
Lauren glanced up at him, suspicion flickering in her eyes. “You’re being weird.”
Larry smirked. “Weird?”
“You’re quiet. And sneaky. And…” She gestured vaguely. “Smug.”
“I’m always smug.”
She rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched like she was fighting a smile. “Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer, just tightened his grip on her hand and led her forward.
The place looked almost exactly as it had that night months ago—the night when everything between them had shifted.
The string l
