Page 81 of Dark Verse

CHAPTER THIRTY

KNOX

I HOLD the piece of paper up against my chest as the people begin to stream out of the door. Most of them have the same haggard look of airplane travelers, but there is some levity amongst the crowd. I see Raven’s face in the moving tapestry, and the softest hint of ginger appears at the back of my throat. It’s such an unexpected sensation that I cough a little. Several passersby glance at the paper.

As she approaches me, Ven’s eyes drop to the page as well, and she laughs. Wide-mouthed, fully throated laughter. She reaches out and traces the big cursive letters of her name that I wrote in fat black marker.

“Really?”

“I’m all about that five-star quality experience, and I expect your review to reflect that.”

She leans into my body, and we kiss, the world falling away for a long moment. Even the cold air stops registering for me for the length of time our lips are together.

“Hello, handsome,” she says as the embrace ends.

“Happy you’re here, honey,” I respond.

I reach around her to grab the handle of her rolling carry-on. I pull open the back door of the van and place her bag there, taking her backpack as well as she slips into the passenger seat. Back into the driver’s seat, I turn on the indicator light, waiting a few seconds before pulling back out into the slow-moving traffic. Soon, we are back onto the main highway and headed back into Denver.

“So I hope you’re ready to be sick of me,” Raven says as we pull off the highway and into the neighborhood streets. “I was able to get five days off this time.”

I chuckle. “Sick of you? I doubt it.”

“Okay, good.”

Raven moved back to California as planned at the end of August, but we’ve been making long-distance work. I always imagined it would be hard to maintain the same spark with a partner, whether virtually or in person, but with Ven, it’s as easy as breathing. We text back and forth all day long. We update each other on our days, and we send silly videos and funny GIFs to make each other laugh. We talk on video chat for hours most nights. We fall asleep to the sound of each other’s breathing, lemon and ginger and honey always present on my tongue in those moments.

Her last visit was in late September. She came to check up on House Band Featuring and meet with Hendrix and Danica about the next two bands that replaced us at the end of our contract. It was a crazy 48-hour fuck fest that had me walking funny for days and regretting absolutely none of it. But if she has more time this visit, I have every intention of taking her on at least one proper date.

“We’re booked for a gig on Halloween, but would you want to go to a party once we’re done? It’s an earlier one, so we should be finished by ten.”

“Sounds fun.” Venny grins.

We pull into the neighborhood and pass several houses that I would swear have added to their Halloween lawn decorations just since I last saw them on my way to the airport an hour ago. Their clear enthusiasm for the holiday makes our dark house look drab by comparison.

Venny seems to notice that as well because as we walk up to the front door she says, “Do you want to carve some pumpkins while I’m in town, maybe get in the festive mood? I haven’t done it in a few years, but it’s really fun. My dad is a huge holiday decoration nut, so our house is usually decked out from mid-October through New Year’s.”

“Absolutely. We could go to a pumpkin patch or something and pick a couple out tomorrow.”

“Yes!” she says, stepping into the house.

We’re greeted by the warm, comforting smell of pot roast, a staple everyone in the Nightshades has loved since we were kids.

“Smells delicious in here,” Ven says, pulling her scarf from her neck. I reach out to take the rest of her outerwear and hang it up on the coat tree.

“We’re back!” I call, and I hear feet shuffling.

“Hey Ray!” Zeke says, pulling her into a firm hug.

“Hi, Zeke, good to see you. How are you?” she inquires.

“Great, I wanted to show you this new composition I arranged two nights ago.”

“Wait, like composition? Like writing music?”

“Yeah!”

“This I’ve got to see. That’s amazing, Zeke. You weren’t a strong music reader a few months ago, and now you’re writing it?”