Chapter Seventeen
NASH
I have a new adventure in mind! Nash texted Kiran after work a couple of days after Smorgasburg.
Kiran: Okay, let’s have it!
Nash: I want to see New York from above.
Kiran: Did you grow wings?
Nash chuckled. He could hear her dubious voice in his mind, which only prompted him to continue texting.
Nash: Wanna go to Top of the Rock?
Kiran: I was about to say no if you asked to go to One World Observatory…too touristy after the day I’ve had. Though Top of the Rock is kind of touristy too, I guess…but it’s on your list, so yes, let’s go!
Nash: I’m full of surprises. And quit complaining. I’ll meet you in front of the building in an hour.
He took the subway from the hospital to Rockefeller Center, spotting Kiran in the crowd instantly.
She was wearing a pink cotton dress with a white shawl draped over her delicate shoulders. Her flats, the same color as her skin, made her legs look like they belonged on a runway, and Nash had to pry his eyes away from them.
“How do you always beat me to wherever we’re meeting?”
“Superpowers,” she answered. Then, “I work two blocks away, remember?”
“Superpowers definitely sounded cooler.”
“Shut up!”
“You ready?”
“I always wanted to go ice-skating here,” Kiran remarked as she gestured to the giant space where the ice-skating rink would be lit up over the holidays.
“Isn’t that the most touristy thing ever, and didn’t you say a little while ago that you’re morally against that?”
“Okay, first off, way to take my words out of context. I’m not morally against tourism. I didn’t feel like going to One World Observatory today, that’s all. There’s a difference.”
“And how is skating at Rockefeller Center during Christmas any different?”
“Because I didn’t grow up with it.”
“So it’s the equivalent of tourist macaroni and cheese?” He chuckled. “You didn’t have it and therefore you must indulge in it?”
She laughed, seemingly delighted that he’d remembered her explanation for loving some things as much as she did. “Yes. Yes, it is!”
They stepped into the elevator up to Top of the Rock a few minutes later. Nash grew more and more excited with each ding of the elevator, hoping that tonight would be as magical as the last few outings had been.
The doors opened, and as he and Kiran stepped out onto the platform, she gasped.
“Wow. This is…”
“Everything.” Nash couldn’t find another word to describe what he was seeing.
A soft smile played at Kiran’s lips as she walked to the barrier, and Nash followed. They stared at Midtown, glowing with shifting lights and skyscrapers. From up here, it seemed they could see the whole world. Even the Empire State Building looked attainable to the masses and less like the reigning symbol of the city.
The temperature was a few degrees cooler than it was at street level. Kiran shivered and the tremor in her arms pressed up against Nash’s, prompting him to look down at her.
“Want my shirt?”
“While I’m sure the ladies here would be impressed with your six-pack, you should probably stay clothed,” she replied dryly.
Nash gave her an exasperated eye roll. “I have a shirt on underneath. Here.”
Deftly pulling the shirt over his head and tugging the tee underneath into place, he took her stubborn hands and put the Henley in them, raising an eyebrow to challenge her bubbling protest.
She gave up.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Thank you for not fighting it.”
“I wasn’t going to fight it!”
“And we’re back, ladies and gentlemen.”
Kiran giggled. “Maybe I just like fighting with you.”
“Maybe I like that you do.”
His gaze lingered on her face for a second longer than it ever had before. Her eyes remained locked on his too, before a visible shiver rippled through her body.
“Here. For real. You’re cold. Put it on.” He helped her pull it over her head, and as his hands lightly trailed over her shoulders, her body quivered again.
Kiran peeked up at him, and Nash’s knees lost some of their stability. Her enormous eyes were filled with vulnerability, but when she peered up at him from underneath a blanket of eyelashes, there was a steely sultriness that Nash couldn’t escape from.
She leaned in close, and her warm breath touched his skin, sending shivers down his spine.
He turned his head, achingly slow, toward her. Nash could smell her perfume, an intense mix of vanilla, patchouli, and jasmine, and it was intoxicating. He was drawn toward her like a moth to the flame.
“You have an audience,” she murmured against his ear. “Don’t look now.”
He was so shocked by the turn in conversation and the way she made his body react that he glanced in the direction she was pointing immediately.
When his gaze fell upon them, a group of young girls widened their eyes and laughed. One flipped her hair. He smiled at them reflexively, and one blushed before he turned back to Kiran.
“Wow, I said, ‘Don’t look,’ and you had to do it, didn’t you?”
“They were, like, twelve. I much prefer women closer to my age.” Nash took a deep breath to stabilize himself, but his lungs still felt like they’d been sapped of any oxygen.
“I’ll be sure to let you know if there’s a midtwenties woman worth your attention around.”
“I’m looking at one.”
She whipped her head to glance at him, her lips parted in a perfect O.
“Nash—”
He didn’t know what she was going to say, but hearing his name on her lips was like she’d cast a spell over his entire life.