It’s gentle even though I’ve been starving for a moment like this for years—and during the best parts of my End Day. It’s like Orion and I are savoring each other until we become greedy. The kiss builds from slow to fast, soft to strong, like my heartbeat. It’s so passionate that my head knocks the baseball cap off of his. I have half a thought to leave it there on the ground, but that’s from his father and deserves more respect. I somehow manage to break the kiss and bend down for the hat. As I’m rising, I lift Orion by his hamstrings and he wraps his legs around my waist. I’ve always wanted to carry another boy like that.

Orion kisses me from above, and I’m seeing stars.

Add this kiss to the list of things I don’t want to end. But whether it’s a morning jog or the perfect kiss, all good things must come to a stop when you need to breathe.

Orion unwraps his legs from around me and slides down my body until we’re face-to-face. I put his cap back over his curls, and he adjusts it just as he likes it; I’ll get it right next time.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi. That was memorable.”

“Hey, I might suck at history, but I can make it.”

The Brooklyn Bridge offers many views. At the very top, there’s an American flag waving in the wind. There are the cars driving beneath us and the river flowing further down. The buildings that I won’t have time to visit but can appreciate here. And the gray skies above everything. It’s all beautiful, but it doesn’t beat the boy who brought me here.

I sigh deeply. “You have made my End Day so hard, Orion.”

First, there’s a flirty glint in his hazel eyes, then concern when he sees I’m not smiling. “Shit, I’m sorry, did I—”

I slide my palms up his, pressing them together.

“Thank you for giving me a glimpse into the life I moved here for. It’s not going to be a long life, but I’m getting to live it because of you.”

“I don’t know how long I got either, but if you’re my first and only, then I could—”

“Don’t say you’ll die happy.”

“Then I could die . . . miserably . . .”

“That’s not great either.”

“How do I win, then?”

“By not accepting defeat. I’m honored to be your first, but I don’t want to be your only.”

“Things don’t exactly work out for me. You’re the best guy I’ve ever liked and . . . ”