"Come here, I thought you said you wanted me to hold you."
Savannah gave him the most beautiful relieved smile, letting her shoulders slump as she collapsed next to him. He had been with her for going on three days, and he hadn't allowed himself to touch her, to hold her. EJ pulled her into his arms with such raw power that it felt like she weighed two pounds.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
She didn't say anything else.
They just stayed there next to each other, Savannah curled up to his side. She shook a little, and he was keenly aware of how very relieved she was to have him there. She just quietly held onto him. It was what she needed from him. She didn’t try to kiss him or even look at him. She just held onto him intently. They didn't speak a word to eachother, and within fifteen minutes, her grip loosened, and she fell asleep.
EJ could've slipped away and told her goodnight. He probably should've done that. But he didn't. He wanted to lie there and hold Savannah, and that was what he did. He let himself fall asleep next to her and woke up to the alarm on his watch, which went off at 5am.
He slipped out of her grasp, and she woke up, opening her eyes sleepily, blinking. He stayed stooped next to the couch. He kissed her cheek and spoke quietly close to her ear. "You can go back to sleep, my love. I have to go catch my flight."
"I love you," she said sleepily.
"I love you, too," he said without hesitating.
He kissed her temple, and her eyes were closed when he pulled away and stood up.
EJ slipped out of her house quietly.
His heart was racing as a result of saying those words.
But she was sleeping.
She was probably dreaming.
She most likely hadn't even realized what she said. There was no way she meant it.
EJ's heart was racing because he was fully aware. He knew what he was saying, and he did mean it. That was scary and crazy, and the feelings of it all were only exacerbated by the fact that he was sleep deprived.
EJ had to go to his hotel, get his things, and check out before going to the airport. He did some work on the plane, but things were waiting for him when he landed and made it to the gym. His day got busy instantly. He thought of Savannah all the time, but tasks needed his attention, so he didn't let thoughts of her consume him. She would be overseas for the next eight days. He had to go on with his life during that time. She knew how he felt. She would, no doubt, have established some feelings about it by the time she got back to the States.
But he thought about her a lot. She crossed his mind constantly between all of his tasks. He had so many questions, and the main one was,had she been awake when she told him she loved him?He wasn't going to ask her. He hoped she knew what she was saying, so he would assume that was the case.
EJ got an email from her three days later. She sent it to his work address.
The subject was 'hello from Italy', and EJ could hardly get a breath of air into his lungs as he opened it and began to read.
Hey EJ! I was thinking about you and wanted to write. Things are good here. Gabe works all day, and I do fun things that his business partners recommend. I've had a few really tasty meals. We're staying at a beautiful vineyard, so I don't need to leave to eat or be entertained, but I've been into thecity twice. I'm having fun, and I don't mind doing things by myself. I wanted to thank you for staying with me the other night. I know you were headed out when I begged you to stay. You were there when I fell asleep, and I wanted to thank you for that. It was a late night for you, and I hope you got enough rest to function the next day. I was so glad you stayed, though. Thanks again! How are things at the gym? I was thinking about stopping by Chicago later this summer for your triathlon. I know it's not till later in June, but I just wanted to drop a hint to you that I'd like to go in case we can make it happen.
Hugs and ciao from Italy, Savannah
Chapter 16
Savannah
"What are you looking at?" Gabe asked, coming to sit next to me. We were in the main shared living room at the villa. We were staying with other people in a large vineyard estate with twenty bedrooms. We all had our own quarters, but I had been sitting in one of the living rooms to send an email to EJ since that was one of the few places where there was wifi.
I closed my laptop when Gabe came to sit on the couch next to me. "I was just, uh, sending an email," I said, saying the truth even though I didn't want to answer to him.
"To the Australian guy?" he asked, referring to the things I had told him on the flight over here.
"No, EJ's from Chicago."
Gabe laughed. "I was just joking around. You told me the story. And I knew the guy wasn't really Australian, I was referring to the game story. He's Eddie Decker's kid. I already looked him up."
"He's a good guy," I said.
