“She’d wanted a cat or dog forever, but Bill wouldn’t allow it. If they had pets in the house, Rafe might not want to hunt animals anymore.”
“Poor Rafe.” She lowered her bow. “Sometimes in school, somebody might try to make fun of me for not having a dad. And I would be like, ‘I met your dad. I’m good, thanks.’ Your turn?”
“My turn.”
“Thank God.”
She stepped away to let Jeremy take her place on the line. He nocked an arrow.
“Hmm,” she said again.
He turned and glared at her. “Now what’s hmm?”
“Can I ask a question?”
He eyed her sternly, and she knew he was onto her. “Only if it’s archery related.”
“Um, it is,” she said. “It is archery related in every respect.”
“Go ahead.”
“So…when did Cupid’s arrow first hit you? The day you met Rafe, or was it later?”
He froze momentarily, then pulled back at the string and released the arrow. Gold.
She waited. And waited. He looked at her.
“Day we met. The second we met. For me anyway.”
“Gay? Bi? Pan? Fun at parties?”
“That is not even remotely archery related. And I prefer the term unisex.”
“Unisex?”
“Like a T-shirt. Fits both men and women. Plus, T-shirts are tops.”
Emilie groaned and punched him in the upper arm. “That was inappropriate. So so so inappropriate.”
“You asked,” he said. He didn’t even have the decency to rub his arm and pretend her punch had hurt.
“What about Rafe?”
“Why don’t you go ask him yourself if he’s gay, bi, or fun at parties?”
“I will not be doing that.”
“Smart. But yes, to answer your question, he likes girls. And me, for some reason.”
Emilie muttered, “I can think of a few reasons.”
“Thank you,” he said. “So what gave me away? The Subaru?”
“Exhibit A—you did not appreciate it when I made a joke about Rafe impressing girls with his big sexy bed. Exhibit B—when he showed his face after shaving, you looked like…you know, in the movies when the vampire finally sees the sun after centuries of darkness? Like that. No, even better.” She breathed in dramatically. “Like in the live video for ‘Silver Springs’ in 1997. You know, when Stevie turns and starts singing the chorus directly to Lindsey, and the stage melts at the savagery?”
“The savagery?”
“When Rafe came out without his beard, you looked like you could have eaten him with a spoon. That, my friend, was savagery.”
He gave her a look but didn’t answer. He shot his arrow. It hit the line between the red and the gold. Not quite the center, not quite a bull’s-eye, but pretty close.
“What about Rafe? Was he in love with you too?”
Jeremy pulled another arrow and took a breath. “When we were gone those six months, yes. But only then. With Rafe’s dad…Well, his dad was one of many, many reasons we didn’t want to come back home.”
He shot another arrow. It hit the gold. Then another. Gold.
“I knew it,” she said. “I totally knew it. Stevie and Lindsey. They went to the same high school too. Ah, this is amazing. Rafe is your Silver Springs.” She wanted to pat herself on the back.
“Rafe is not my overpriced D.C. suburb.”
“No, no. That is not what the song’s about. The song is about how when two lovers are in a band together, even when they break up, or the band breaks up, they’re still joined together because of the beautiful music they made. You, sir, are Stevie Nicks. And Rafe is your Lindsey Buckingham.”
“At least I’m Stevie in this bizarre fantasy of yours.”
“I love you so much for that,” she said, giving him a hug he didn’t seem to enjoy very much, but he took it without complaint. She let him go. “Wait, if you’ve been in love with him for literally ever…why didn’t you come back and visit him? He’s pretty pissed you—”
“I did.” Jeremy released another arrow. Gold again.
