I arrive at the Ghost Office and find someone already there. Stepping out of the car, I spot him stooped over near the burnt section of wall. Aiden isn’t here yet - he’s being dropped later by Ms. Callahan, who he needed to drive to an appointment - and it abruptly occurs to me that if we’re being broken into, I’m all by myself. Should I just leave? There’s very little inside the Ghost Office that anyone might want to steal, anyway.

Still, it feels weird to just get in my car and go. Unsure of what to do, I set down the heavy box I was carrying, creep a little closer, and step directly onto a twig. It snaps under my foot, and the guy jumps and turns on his bent heels. He looks to be about Kent’s age, with an unruly mop of black curls falling over his forehead.

“Oh, shit!” he says, pressing a hand to his chest. “You scared me!”

“I scared you? What are you doing sneaking around my place?”

“Your place?” His eyes narrow, and he straightens up. “This place belongs to Marcus Keane.”

“Wh-?” My eyes fall to a clipboard in his hand, one with scribbled notes on the front. I read a line at random: damage to exterior wall. “Oh, my god. Are you the handyman my dad sent over?”

The suspicion falls from his face.

“Oh, you must be Jamie.”

“And that makes you…?”

“Raj.” He extends a hand, and I shake it. He’s got an unusual, handsome cut to his face; all lines and angles, his cheekbones the only curves. He’s got a straight, sharp nose and dark brown eyes. Skin a blush or two darker than Aiden’s.

“I’m sorry, my dad said he'd let me know before you came over, I wasn’t expecting you! Are you from Ketterbridge? I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Not from here, no.” Raj smiles and tosses his curls out of his face. “But now that I'm here, I'm staying.”

“Fell in love with Ketterbridge? I get it.”

“Fell in love with a Ketterbridge woman,” he says, grinning. “I do dig the town, too, though."

“Aw! Sweet.” I gesture to the clipboard. “So, uh. Thanks for coming.”

“Sure thing. Marcus said there was a crazy electrical fire.” Raj glances at the damage again. “Lucky no one was hurt, bro.”

“I know! The firemen said that it was good we didn’t have any furniture inside. Apparently that makes fires easier to put out.”

“Well, I can easily fix up this outside wall, as long as there’s no structural damage.”

“There isn’t,” I answer, and Raj pauses. “Uh - we already had someone come to make sure.” It was Aiden, but that doesn’t really need to be said.

“Alright. I just need to see the inside, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Cool.” I retrieve my box, lead him around to the door, and work the keys out of my pocket. “How new are you to town? You should come to the Fling Thing! It’s coming up in a few days.”

“I went last year,” he says, as I shove the door up. “When I first came to town. It was lit.”

“Yeah, it always is.” A jump of nerves twists in my stomach. Ever since I made up my mind, I can only think of the Fling Thing with anxiety, but I’m determined. “So, how do you know my dad?”

“I actually rented this exact spot from him. I spent a summer making surfboards for people.”

“Oh, yeah! You’re the one who was using the space before us?”

“Mhm.”

“Got out of the surfboard game?”

“Decided to focus on a different project,” Raj says, ducking under the door after me. “I’m fixing up a busted-ass house. Gonna make it beautiful for my girl.” He smiles brightly. “We just found out we’ve got a baby on the way.”

“No shit! Congratulations, man.”

“Thanks, brother. Oh my fucking-” He stops, staring at the two shattered windows, the scorch marks on the ground, the powder residue from our various recent explosions, the hastily unplugged fridge. The burned areas, smudged with ash. “Uh - what have you been using the place for?”

I set down the box on one of the workbenches, and Raj peeks into it. It’s filled to the top with old jars.

“Um - different stuff. Working on a project of my own.” I turn to face him again. “So, how do I know you’re up to the task of restoring this glorious, historic building?”

“Well, I built all these workbenches you’re using,” he says, bending to look at an outlet. “And fixed up the loft, which is probably the reason it hasn’t fallen down on you yet.” He crosses to the destroyed windows and pulls a measuring tape from his pocket. “I hope your project is going to wrap up fast. It’s going to get cold soon, and I can tell you from personal experience that this place turns into an icebox.”

True, but thankfully I have my own personal heating system. Aiden could probably keep it toasty in here all winter long, if need be.

“Appreciate the tip, Raj.”

A sound from the door draws my attention. I turn just as Aiden ducks in, his backpack on one shoulder. For some reason, he’s frowning deeply, a sour look on his face. He pauses just inside and glances at Raj, who is jotting some measurements onto his clipboard.

Who is that? he mouths at me. Raj turns around before I can answer.

“Hey, man.” He nods at Aiden.

“Aiden, this is Raj, my dad sent him to help us fix the fire damage.”

“And maybe replace a few windows, looks like,” Raj says.

“Nice to meet you.” Aiden’s frown melts away immediately. He accepts the hand that Raj is offering and gives it a friendly shake. “Sorry you have to clean up our mess.”

“Nah, it’s chill. I can always use the cash.”

I had hoped my dad had fire insurance on the Ghost Office, but it doesn’t sound like it. Guilt makes my cheeks turn hot. My dad shouldn’t have to pay for this. Aiden and I are the ones responsible.

“Hey, Raj - when you get your new house fixed up, do you need any help with the plants?”

“You do landscaping?”

“No, but I bet I could do you some pretty sweet window boxes, and help if you want to set up a garden. I work at Fresh Flowers.”

“Oh, yeah! Your dad mentioned.”

“Maybe we could do some sort of trade?” I offer. “You fix up the Ghost Office and I can help you with that?”

“I’ll help, too,” puts in Aiden, who has clearly followed my thought process. “Jamie can show me how.”

Raj tilts his head to the side, considering.

“It would be a nice touch for when you surprise your girlfriend,” I add.

“My fiancée,” he corrects. “Okay, you know what? Yeah. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to start working the greenery.” He scribbles something down on his clipboard, tears off the sheet, and offers it to me. It’s a phone number. “Text me yours, we’ll figure it all out. I’ll let Marcus know.”

“Perfect! Thanks, dude, I appreciate it.”

“Bet. Anything else you need fixed up?” He glances at the various points of destruction around the Ghost Office. “Uh - besides the obvious?”

“No, I think we’re good.”

He nods, extracts a pair of sunglasses from the pocket of his jeans, and sets them on his face.

“We’ll talk soon. Nice to meet you guys!”

Aiden waits until he disappears, then swivels around to face me.

“Sorry, I didn’t know he was coming. My dad said he’d let me know first, but he’s such a space cadet, he probably forgot.”

“You’re totally fine,” Aiden says.

“Oh? You looked so pissed off when you walked in.”

“Not pissed off, I thought-” He pauses. “I was outside, I heard voices, and thought I heard you say Roger, not Raj. I was just confused, you know, cause of what you told me the last time we talked about him.”

“Oh.” I laugh, a little surprised. “No, just the handyman.” A random burst of courage hits me, and I decide to test the waters. “He does have nice arms, though, don't you think? Construction arms.”

“Whatever,” Aiden says, with a shrug. He pauses again, then pulls off his hoodie and drops it on the workbench. He’s in a charcoal t-shirt today, one that clings nicely to his shoulders and strains a little around his biceps. He stretches his arms over his head, then unzips his backpack and extracts a water bottle. “It’s so fucking hot out.”

“Soon it’ll be getting cold. The Fling Thing always marks the day.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” Aiden says, turning and leaning against the workbench. He brings the water bottle to his lips, and there’s something… something about the way his eyes are lingering on me. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, I snatch the water bottle out of his hand and take a sip. Aiden watches me, eyebrows arched. “Are you actually consuming water instead of coffee, right now? Is this my Jamie, or an evil clone?”

My Jamie. I could melt to the floor. God, I like him so much it hurts.

“Don’t be a shithead,” I tell him. “Like you said, it’s hot.”

“Well, why did you wear a flannel?” Aiden lets out a soft chuckle that seems to vibrate in my chest. He adjusts my collar with a long finger. I feel the pressure of it through the fabric, the brief touch against my collarbone. “Are you trying to have a heatstroke? Your face is already red.”

“I’m not-” I swallow, trying to get a grip on myself. “Why don’t you make it cooler in here, then? Magic man? You can do that, can’t you? Instead of just, you know. Running your mouth?”

Aiden smirks and crosses his arms. Something shifts in the air; a lifting of pressure. The damp, sticky heat that was clinging to me retreats, like I’ve stepped out of the sunlight into a lightly air-conditioned room. Aiden pushes up off of the workbench and taps my nose.

“Better for you, princess?” he rumbles.

So much so. A swirl of answering nerves almost makes me dizzy.

“Jerkface,” I answer. “Dingleberry.”

Aiden’s eyes crinkle in amusement.

“Is the manager here? I’d like to file a complaint.”

“A complaint.”

“Yes, about bad language at the office. I’m thinking of booking a speaker to come in and explain why it’s hurtful.”

“Oh, you picked the wrong manager to talk to about that. Kasey!” She materializes next to me, blinking in the sunshine that pours through the windows. “Aiden wants to file a complaint against me because I called him a jerkface dingleberry.”

Kasey considers.

“Tell him I won’t be moving that complaint forward, on account of that all the accusations are true.”

I communicate this to Aiden, who tosses his hands up.

“Two against one,” he says. “No fair.”

“Ready to get started?” Kasey drifts over to the box on the workbench.

“Brought all the jars, like you said,” I tell her, nudging the box. “Raided my recycling.” Aiden comes to see, peering over my shoulder. He extracts a jar from the bunch, one with sticky strawberry residue clinging to the bottom.

“These are all yours?” he asks, eyebrows raised. I snatch the jar from his hand and put it back.

“I like jelly, and jam, and I won’t be ashamed of that. Did you bring yours?”

Aiden unzips his backpack again and pulls out three jars. He adds them to the bunch.

“Kasey,” he says, looking in the complete wrong direction. “Why’d you have us bring these?”

I repeat her words to Aiden as she speaks.

“We need you to practice containing your energy to smaller things. It sounds like the problem is that there’s too much, even with Jamie helping you. Rather than exploding a billion pairs of glasses, or any more priceless artifacts, you goons, we should start with something more easily replaceable. Priority one is to get the glasses functioning, but we need to start off slow.”

“Fair enough,” Aiden concedes, when I finish repeating it all.

“Good.” Kasey points to a jar in the box, and I pull it out. “Now, show me how this works. I haven’t really gotten to see it in action yet.”

Since the coffee table was annihilated in the explosion, we’ve just been setting things directly on the ground when we work with them. If we’re going to keep making scorch marks, we need to keep them all on the same spot. Easier to clean out of the concrete later.

I put the jar in its spot and join Aiden a few paces away. His fingers close around mine, and it hits me: in a few days, I might get to hold his hand just because I want to. Depending on how things go, anyway. A zip of electricity runs up my arm, one that has nothing to do with magic.

The warm push of his energy kisses my palm. He lets out a soft exhale, readying himself. A cool ripple of white-blue shifts through his eyes as I start letting down my guard. The connection between us flickers and flares under my skin. I tip my head to the side as it begins climbing up my neck, savoring it. This feels a little different every time, because Aiden is a little different every time, and so am I.

I can hear, feel, taste, and breathe each perfect part of him. The pulse and flow of his body heat, the shifting tide of his emotion, the intensity of his focus, even the tiniest flutter of his dark eyelashes. Whatever is deeply felt by Aiden is deeply felt by me, at least when we’re like this. His warmth spreads up behind my ears, circles the back of my neck, pools in my wrists and around my mouth.

I haven’t said anything to him about it, but I’m immediately impatient for more, every time the connection breaks. Sit here with me for hours, I want to say. Let’s see how long we can make it last.

I also like the way he gets after a full day of doing this. How he’s tired but happy, smiling in a way that melts me like a candle. How he becomes unhurried and contemplative, drowsily ruffling my hair.

I sense him balling up the energy he hasn’t given me, trying to compress it to fit the jar. The click of glass on concrete makes me open my eyes: the jar is slowly lifting off the ground in a decidedly uneven way. All at once, the entire thing crumbles apart into microscopic pieces, falling like sand into a tidy pile. Aiden releases my hand, blinking his frost-blue eyes.

Kasey stares at the jar, her eyes wide, her fingers pressed to her mouth.

“Ho. Ly. Fuck. Ing. Oh. My. God.” She bounds up to the pile and bends over it, staring. “This is fucking crazy.”

“I know!” I answer, and Aiden looks at me questioningly.

“Don’t tell him that I’m excited,” Kasey warns.

“She’s excited,” I tell him, and he smiles nervously.

“I can’t believe two entire people know about this now,” he says, rubbing his arm. “So weird. At least we can count on Kasey not to tell anyone.”

“I’m obviously going to tell William.” She pokes at the little pile of jar remains. Her fingers can’t make it move. I can tell she forgot by the frustrated way she rocks back up onto her feet. “Okay. That fucking ruled, but we need the thing to not get destroyed. Practice makes perfect. Get another jar, Jamie.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

~~~~

“Again tomorrow?” I ask, after Kasey has deemed us done for the day and disappeared. Aiden and I sit outside on the pebble beach, sharing cold sips from his water bottle.

“I can’t,” he says regretfully. “Gabby has me helping her with a few extra things while her assistant is out. I can do the day after?”

“I promised I’d help Destinee rehearse that night.”

“Oh. Shit.”

I realize something very suddenly.

“That means this will be the last time we get to see each other before the Fling Thing.”

“That sucks,” Aiden says, but he doesn’t realize how much it’s true. I thought we would have a few more normal days together. I let my gaze roam over the water, the pebbles, the Ghost Office, and finally Aiden himself. I want to memorize this moment, how we are right now.

Before, inevitably, everything changes forever.