On the Mountain

by Riley Hart

Sometimes it was scary how easy it was to fake it, to pretend you were happy and life was great. Most people didn’t take the time to look, not really, because if they did, they would see most of us were barely hanging on.

“I like the way your laugh sounds,” Cyrus told me. “I appreciate your sharing it with me.”

“Yes, but now you’re mine,” he said simply, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“For someone who’s been alone for over ten years, you sure do know how to use your heart better than anyone I’ve ever known.”

“You.” “Me what?” “You give me you. Not just your ass. All of you. Your…feelings, your words, your smiles. You.”

“I love you,” I whispered, then held my breath. Crow released my fingers, confusion clear on his face. “Why?”

“Because I was meant to love you. I exist to love you, to belong to you.”

“No one has ever been this nice to me. No one has ever made me feel like I matter. I’ve always been something people can throw away. I don’t know how to deserve this.”

“You already do.” I’d told him last night. Cyrus gave me himself. That was all I needed. “She said you were her sun, but you’re mine too.”

Now I knew my salvation was the man in front of me, and it was beautiful and right and I would never let him go.

“I’ll find you,” he said. “You can’t hide from me, little lamb. I can smell you…smell how much you want me…the muskiness of your desire, the scent of sugar that always

clings to your skin. I’m going to find you, and I’m going to fuck you.”

“You are my sun too. My life was darkness until you gave me your light.”