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The razor-sharp autumn breeze slashed against his cheeks. The temperatures had sunk as if Demeter had been angrier than normal by her daughter’s departure. Rafael was thankful for the coffee cups warming his hands as he returned to their park table where Olivia waited for him. A passing thought made him wonder if she’d enjoy Hadestown and if there was any way he could get tickets to see it.
The former ADA blinked the idea away, settled for joining his dear friend and handing her her beverage.
“Didn’t know you’d still remember how I like it,” she beamed at him.
“I could never forget,” he confessed, sitting. He brought both his hands to his cup, glad for the warmth. He opened his mouth to speak but caught sight of her gaze lingering on her drink. She was chewing on her bottom lip. “Liv?” he prompted.
Benson’s eyes met his phone laying on the table, the one he had left as he went to grab their coffee. She met his orbs, tipped her head. “I, uh, I didn’t know I was your lock screen.”
Autumn as cold as winter could be damned, for he had gone from freezing to blazing in a second. He couldn’t remember the last time his face had become this red.
“Liv--”
She raised her fingers. “A notification came in, the screen lit up and… There it was,” she said. “I didn’t mean to look, it just…”
“Please stop, I’m already done for as it is,” he chuckled. He let go of the cup and ran his hands through his hair. “God, I knew this would come back to bite me.”
The captain had her lips under her teeth again. “I love the picture,” she said.
“You sent me it when you and Noah were playing in the snow, I was out of town. I remember the day,” he confessed. “God, this is…” he was silent. “Okay, I can explain.”
His heart grew calmer when he saw the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. “I know you can.”
God, this woman! “My mom has created a habit of going to Florida. Sometimes I go there to spend some days with her and an old friend of hers, this friend has a daughter, we’ve been friends since we were little. This daughter, Paula, has a little girl, Cecilia. Cecilia was playing with my phone and she saw this picture of you and Noah, and she asked about you,” he sighed, “I explained to her we were friends and Noah was your son, my mom mentioned something about you and Cecilia started talking about a movie she saw and she decided we could be a thing. When I finally get my phone back, I’ve got a new lock screen. And every time I tell myself I need to change it, but I never get around to doing it.” He licked his dry lips, lowered his glance to his coffee. “A friend even asked me the other day where did I find you and if you had a sister.”
Olivia regarded her companion, a beam widening. He had the impression he saw color on her cheeks. “It’s a good thing you haven’t been seeing anyone then,” she commented, “might have made things awkward.”
“I have to confess it comes in handy when mom tries to set me up,” he smirked, grabbed his phone. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, Rafa,” she assured, tilted her head then, held his gaze. “It reminds me, though,” she said, “that I meant to ask if you’d like to go out for dinner one of these days.”
Demeter and her fury be damned, Olivia would send him straight back to summer with her words alone. He was satisfied he didn’t grow flustered again, even if he had to take a second. “I’d like that, yes.”
She smiled, so did he. And Rafael made plans to send Cecilia a Christmas gift.