The Sigma Asset 🏳️‍🌈 (bxb)║AMBYS WINNER 2022

68: Epilogue

Heart was beating like crazy. Kept thinking I'd seen Zeph coming through the Arrivals gate, but it was always some other guy.

Then I saw him winding between clusters of passengers, chewing his lip as he cut through the sea of waiting family members and placard-holding taxi drivers.

Our eyes met. Damn. Heart skipped a beat. Like it had been stroked by a zephyr.

"Hey!" Zeph shot through the gate like an arrow.

Wrapped his arms around my waist like he wanted to squeeze all the air outta me. So good to have him close again.

 Couldn't resist tickling him behind his ear, upsetting his glasses. They slipped a little way down his nose. "You're still wearing them, Zeph."

"Oh." A shy smile, and he shoved them into his shirt pocket. "I was reading on the plane and forgot..." Still self-conscious about them, not that he needed to be. Beautiful Zephyr.

I tipped his chin to me for a kiss. "They look even better on you in person."

Surprised at my touch, his breath caught. Four months apart musta hit him suddenly, 'cause a big frown clouded his face. But I had him. Folded him up tight in my arms just as the first tears fell.

"Missed you so much," he mumbled into my neck.

"Me too."

Feeling his heart beat against mine again after so long, it hit me too. Didn't wanna let him go. A few seconds later he was OK again, smiling at me through his tears.

His grip was damn tight on my hand all the way to the parking lot. He'd gotten even stronger over the past months, lost in endless taekwondo training. Still trying to fight the ghosts of Sigma. Guessed it was gonna be a long time before he stopped fighting.

"Daebak[1]!" Zeph circled around the van with a smart-ass look. Like he knew anything about vehicles. "It's so cool! Way better than you described it!" He ran a graceful finger along the logo. "You said it was just a blue van. Miles said it was a just blue van."

"It is just a blue van." I shook my head at him as he swung open the door and dove in.

He buckled up, his eyes circling the van's dark interior, pretty mouth in a big oh like he was checking out a spaceship and not a utility vehicle. He peered into the back at Miles's toolkit, boxes of equipment, spools of cable.

"There's only two seats in this thing!" he whined. Then, all sly: "I'd automatically get shotgun if Miles had come with you, right?"

"No." I replied. "That's Miles's seat. You'd be out back, rolling around with the cables and tools."

"Way to treat your boyfriend, asshole," he sniggered as he peered into the glovebox and messed with the window controls.

I leaned over to peck kisses onto his cheek. "Like I'd ever let my zephyr in the back of the van. Unless you wanna..."

Zeph burst into laughter. First time I'd heard him laugh since he'd arrived. I'd missed that sound so bad.

He sat up all tall and proud in the passenger's seat. "I'm riding with the CEO of Shirazi Electrical."

"Can I be a CEO if the company's only me and Miles?"

"Of course!" So damned sure of himself. My zephyr, thinking that everything's possible. "You still getting used to your new name?"

"Love it."

And I did love it. Zeph had been calling me Will Shirazi non-stop over the past week. Seemed to like saying it way more than he did Will Graz. I'd always hated telling anyone my surname. These days I loved when people asked me, just so I could say it out loud.