Crossed Keys

Chapter Four - Strike

The sky was dark when I pulled unto the lonely side street leading up to the house. On one side of the jeep was grass, growing so tall, I knew if anyone ventured in, they'd ever come out again. On the other, the ocean, water so blue, it was almost supernatural. 

The waves danced under the rough breeze, swaying in the dim light, like the beat of a lullaby.

The lonely house stood ahead of me, barely sticking up above the grass, reminding me just how alone I'd felt, getting on that plane and fastening my seatbelt to fly into the unknown. Still, I drove up as far as I could, pulled over to the side and turned off the ignition. For a moment, I sat there, gripping the steering, looking at the house in front of me.

My heart raced so fast, I had to close my eyes, pressed the lid tightly and reminded myself why I was here.

I was here to meet Dash—a man I felt alive with even though I had no idea what he looked like. I was here to celebrate his birthday, to see if there really was something true about our relationship—no matter if it was as lovers or just as very good friends.

It had gotten to the point where I didn't care what I was to him—as long as he was with me.

Yes, this was a risk—a very big one.

He'd made it clear he didn't ant to jinx what we had. And sure, I respected that, but my heart wanted more.

It was selfish of me to just show up like this. I knew that. But what else was there to do?

Somewhat calm, I reached into the back seat for my backpack and the flowers I'd purchased the moment the ferry let me off on the only main street on the island. Once I was sure the rental was secure, I exhaled and moved gingerly toward the house.

Just as I stepped under the porch, the sky opened up. I was about to knock when thunder, louder than anything I'd ever heard boomed across the sky jerking me around. My already nervous heart seemed to do a terrified flip and I had to take a deep breath to keep my feet holding me up.

After a bit, I turned and knocked.

I wasn't sure what I expected Dash to look like. But the man who opened the door wasn't it. He was tall with shoulder length black hair—well kept, back hair. He was muscular and woreg a shirt that was entirely too tight for him. The man cocked a hip and shifted all his weight on that leg as he stared wary brown eyes at me.

"Dash?"

He paused. "Strike."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"Come in!" He cheered. "Um, I wasn't expecting you. This weather is horrible."

I stepped by him wondering if he shouldn't hug me or something. Show me that even though he wasn't expecting me, he would have showed me some kind of welcome.

Biting back my disappointment, I thrust the flowers at him. He accepted them, led me into what looked to be a living room, pushed me into the sofa and dropped the flowers unceremoniously onto the wooden center table.

"So tell me?" He sat across from me. "Why are you here?"

"Um—" I glanced around. "Your birthday is coming up. I told you I wanted to do something nice for you."

I paused.

"I wanted to surprise you and spend some time with you." I continued.

"My birthday—" He tilted his head. "Oh—right. My birthday."

He cleared his throat.

I stared at him, wanting to feel something like I feel as I sat down in the evenings to talk to him. But the longer I stared at him, the more I felt nothing and it scared me.