We make good use of our breakfast, and when we go back to the room one last time, I take her as she lies on her stomach. Her skirt is the gift of the clothing gods, it gets us straight to our goal. And I don’t give a fuck if I rip her panties in the process.
But now we both linger by the car doors, hesitating to get in. As soon as we do it’s over.
“Well… that’s that.” She avoids any eye contact.
Now reality hits us like a ton of bricks.
The timer is up.
Walking around the car, I surprise her when I grab her arm and wind her into me, take her face in my hands, and kiss her. Not a damaging kiss but a soft affectionate kiss because she isn’t just a random one-night stand. It’s Hailey. The woman who shines like a comet. Orbiting my life but never touchable.
She deserves the universe.
My gentle kiss deepens against her lips.
One last kiss.
Reluctantly gravitating away from her mouth, my thumb circles her cheek and our foreheads touch.
“I won’t forget last night, even if I should,” she whispers.
“We don’t need to forget it. Just leave it as it is.”
She barely nods once in understanding.
“Let’s get back in the car. No point standing around,” I suggest and hate every syllable of the sentence.
“You’re… right.”
It’s a brutal silence as we settle back into the car. I bite the inside of my cheek as I watch her stretch across the middle to set the navigation. I’m trying to fight the urge to wear down the tension in the air.
But Hailey, the light that she is, saves us both.
The navigation turns on, and I have to laugh. “Really?” I give her a pointed look.
She shrugs at me and can’t control her closed-mouth smile.
“You changed our navigation voice to a woman who sounds like Dolly Parton?”
“Fun, right? I mean, I guess we are going to miss the Big Foot museum, so I have to keep the adventure going somehow.”
“You’re the adventure,” I say quietly, but she hears.
Her lids flutter and then she turns away to look out the window.
That’s us.
That’s it.
We leave it behind.
8
HAILEY
Well, I mean, we’re doing what we said we would.
Moving on and going back to the way things were before we decided to have one night that will burn in my head for eternity.
