Chapter 38

The park is not that cold, and as we wander around hand in hand, eating hot dogs, feeling a hundred times better than I have in months. Arrick is on good form tonight as the sun goes down, and New York is still bustling with dog walkers and people strolling the park. He has been making jokes, laughing along with me, and attentive as ever.

He seems happy to be here in the city again, a lot more comfortable than we are in France, and I wonder if he, too, hates being there as much as I do. He has never said he doesn’t like the place, but knowing him, he wouldn’t want to put that kind of pressure on me. I can feel it though. How much more relaxed we are, how much we are smiling and fooling around. I feel younger and more carefree than I have in months.

“I don’t know how the hell you can eat so much and still weigh nothing.” Arry watches me put away my second hot dog after two corn dogs we had on the way here, and I grin while stuffing the last of it in my mouth.

“You c