Reaching over to what has quickly become Case’s side of the bed, I slide my hand over his taut ab muscles, watching as his eyelids flutter open, and he groans as he awakens. Pulling me into his arms, he whines, “I’m not ready yet. Just let me sleep for another few days. Then I’ll be ready.” I snuggle into his side, reluctant to get out of bed myself, but he has a flight booked back to San Diego later this afternoon, and since the roads have only just opened, there will probably be traffic.
“I know, I’m not ready either, sleepyhead. But come on. You don’t want to miss your flight.”
“Mm - maybe I do want to miss my flight.” He makes a grab for me as I slide out of my side of the bed.
“Come on, if you hurry, maybe I’ll still be in the shower when you get in there and we’ll have to share.” I waggle my eyebrows at him and he groans.
“Not fair, using sex as a bribe,” he mumbles into the pillow.
I laugh. “Oh Case, I have three children. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that bribery is a highly effective tool.” I wait until he raises his head to look at me, and then I prance my naked ass into the bathroom, giving it a saucy little shake as I shoot him a sexy look over my shoulder, causing him to groan again and bury his face back into the pillow.
As I predicted, the bribery accomplishes the goal, and he meets me in the shower, which turns into an extended affair involving both of us getting clean, then getting dirty, followed by getting clean again. When we get into the kitchen a while later, I glance over at the oven, and to my surprise, the digital display is on, flashing 12:00 over and over. “Hey, the power's back on!" I exclaim.
He snorts. "Naturally, on the day we have to leave. Although I'm not complaining. We did pretty well without power, I think."
"I agree," I say, sliding my arms around his waist. "It wouldn't have been the same if we'd been able to have light and watch movies the whole time."
We spend the next couple of hours getting ready to leave, both struggling to hide our sadness. But after we’ve dug out both out cars, got Case packed up, loaded a few things into my SUV, and even done a little cleaning, there's nothing left to do. It’s time for him to head out if he wants any chance of making his flight.
Standing in the driveway we worked together to shovel earlier, Case pulls me close one last time, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck. I run my fingers through the hair on the back of his head and squeeze him as close to me as I can. There’s no more room for smart-ass remarks. The moment we’ve been putting off and trying to avoid thinking about for the last few days is upon us.
“You feel so good,” He whispers against my ear. He shaved this morning, and he feels different against my skin. Where there used to be rough stubble that felt so good scraping along my skin, now he’s all smooth. I think I prefer him with a little scruff. My Case has sexy stubble, he’s not this clean-shaven, college professor-y dude.
“I’ll text you when I get to the airport, okay?” he whispers, and I nod against his chest, reluctant to let him go. “I’m going to miss you so much,” he whispers, pressing his lips to my temple.
I look up at him, choking back the tears that threaten to spill over. I’m the one who convinced him that doing this whole thing long distance would be fine. I can’t freak out now.
“I’ll miss you too,” I say softly. “But it will be fine.”
He smiles, and his eyes are glassy as he takes his time giving me one last kiss. His mouth is gentle and warm against mine, one hand curled around the nape of my neck, and the other pressed firmly into the small of my back holding me tight to him.
“Goddamn,” I whisper as we tear our mouths away from each other. “If you don’t get out of here, I’m going to tear your clothes off and devour you right here in the driveway. I refuse to be responsible for you missing your flight and disappointing your family.”
“Promises, promises,” he grumbles, and slowly, reluctantly, we pull away from each other.
The car is already running, warming up in the cold, so Case gets himself settled in the driver’s seat, and rolls down the window so I can lean in to plant one last kiss on him.
“Drive safely, okay?” I whisper, afraid that if I try to speak any louder, my voice will break.
Case nods. “You too.”
I step back from the SUV as he puts it in gear and starts down the long driveway. I watch him until he reaches the road, and he sticks his arm out the driver’s window, giving me one last wave as he turns and drives away.
My limbs feel like they’re made of lead as I walk back into the cabin to finish packing and cleaning up. After a quick text exchange with Hunter, I learn the cleaners are coming tomorrow, so I don’t have to do much other than gather up my stuff, but I end up doing a bunch of extra things, anyway. I’m just delaying going back to Seattle to a big empty house.
A couple of hours later, I pull the door shut behind me and make my way down the drive, following in the deep tracks left from when Case drove down. There’s no one I’m leaving behind, and there’s no one going to be there to greet me when I make it home, and goddamnit, that’s one of the loneliest feelings I’ve ever experienced.
“Fuck,” I mutter out loud, brushing away the annoying tears I keep finding on my cheeks.
The drive home is long, and traffic is a bitch. It’s not surprising, but it certainly extends the length of my trip. A few hours in, I get a call from Case, as he’s waiting for his flight to San Diego. We don’t talk long since I’m driving, and after we disconnect I feel a pang of jealousy. At least Case has his parents and family there, while I’ve got my house and my job. I feel like those things might have been enough for me, even a few months ago, but right now, it just feels empty.
So, I do what I always do when I’m avoiding something. I think about work. And soon I’m able to lose myself in that. I love coming up with new game ideas. If I could do anything I wanted, I’d do nothing but sit around coming up with new game ideas.
A few hours later, I pull into my driveway. It’s dark and cold, and there’s plenty of snow that’s fallen here in Seattle as well, but thankfully my caretakers have looked after clearing the driveway and walkways.
I shake my head ruefully as I pull into the garage and grab the bag with my personal stuff in it. I can unpack the rest tomorrow, but at the moment, all I can think of is a hot shower and falling into my bed.
Case is on his flight to San Diego, so after a hot shower, I crawl between my expensive sheets. I miss the ridiculous Santa Bear sheets from the cabin, and it makes me chuckle. I send Case a text letting him know I’m home safely and I miss him. And then after a little tv, I fall into a very restless sleep.
