I duck under his arm, still breathless, and grab the nearest clothes I can find.
I shimmy into my go-to black leggings, throw on a fitted black tank top, then yank Donovan’s black shirt from the night before and shrug into it. It still smells like him, a woodsy, masculine scent with a soft hint of lavender. Comfort wrapped in cotton.
Donovan buttons his shirt while I zip up my bag. Somehow, we’re both ready in record time.
We step out the back door, and I lock up and set the alarm. As we descend the stoop toward my car, he laces his fingers throughmine. I glance up at him, and his expression has shifted, quiet and contemplative. Something heavy flickers behind his eyes. I stop and wrap my arms around him, resting my cheek against his chest. That same lavender note grounds me, reminds me I’m loved and not alone. I close my eyes and breathe him in.
“Donovan, look at me,” I say gently, cupping his face in both hands. He meets my gaze, those eyes of his warring with too many emotions at once.
I kiss him hard, like I mean it. Like I’m leaving a piece of myself with him.
As I turn to get into the car, I pause with my hand on the door and say what’s on my heart.
“I know this is going to be hard. We just found our way back to each other, and now we have to spend two weeks apart. But this won’t last forever. It’ll be over before we know it. My heart has been yours since high school, D. There’s no one else for me. We’ll figure out what’s next together. I love you.” Tears sting my eyes as I start to climb in, but before I can close the door, Donovan yanks it open again.
He crouches to eye level, voice rough but steady. “I love you with every fiber of my being, Stella. You are it for me. My beginning, my middle, my always. Two weeks is nothing. I’d wait two lifetimes if it meant I still got to be yours. We’ll call, we’ll video chat, I’ll send you pictures until your phone begs for mercy, and if that’s not enough, I’ll write you letters soaked in my cologne just to hold you a little closer. This distance won’t break us. It’ll remind us just how worth it this love is.”
He kisses me one more time—slowly, deeply, and certainly—then closes the door with care.
I drive away with him still watching from the curb, already counting down the days until I’m back in his arms.
Donovan
There are quiet sounds of birds chirping in the background as I watch Stella’s taillights disappear around the corner. I shove my hands into my pockets, standing in the rising heat of the morning, listening to the last faint rumble of her engine fade out.
Two weeks. It’s nothing. I’ve done worse. But now, after everything that’s happened… It feels like too long.
I slide into my car and turn the ignition. Warm air hums through the vents, and I rest my hands on the steering wheel and take a few deep, grounding breaths.
Lavender and eucalyptus still lingers on my skin, flooding my senses, reminding me exactly how her body moved under mine. How she whispered my name when I—
I scrub a hand down my face.Don’t start. Not now.I can’t kick off my day with a tent in my pants and Stella on a plane to Virginia. There’s so much I should be doing. Getting to class, replying to emails, acting like the world hasn’t shifted again. But it has.
She said she loved me, that her heart’s been mine since high school. That should be enough to carry me through this.
God, I hope it is.
I barely survived my first class of the day. Now I’m back in my office, a glorified coat closet with peeling walls and a desk that groans when I breathe near it.
I dig my phone out like some lovesick idiot who can’t survive ninety minutes of silence. (I am.)
One new message.
Mi Bella:I made it through security and on to the plane just in the nick of time. I will text you as soon as I land at home in Virginia.
My stomach knots the second I read it.
“Back home in Virginia.”
Why does her calling ithomemake me want to hurl?
Like I’m thelayover. Not thedestination.
I shove the feeling down, take a steadying breath, and type out a reply. Fast. I won't make her wait an hour this time. Not again.
Me:You’re flying over Tennessee, and I’m here trying to pretend I don’t miss you like hell already.
I pocket my phone just as my next class saunters in. While I move through the motions of basketball drills, all I can think about is Stella.
