I shake my head, in awe of this wonderful man. “It must’ve been painful to get back into them.”
The screen shifts as Jordan repositions on his couch. “It was, yeah. I’m not going to lie. But you’ll see why when you read it. Just keep in mind that I haven’t written his ending yet, okay?”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll know when you see it. And I’ll give you a heads up when you get close.”
His tone is dark. Heavy. My gut tells me exactly what it’s about.
I swallow hard. “Okay. Well, I’m looking forward to reading it. I’m still in shock you sent it to me.”
He cracks a smile. “I know. I wanted to surprise you. Thought you could use it today.”
An ache settles between us.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “About that, though. I was thinking maybe I could fly down every other weekend or something, since I have three-day weekends now. I mean, it’ll be expensive, and I know you can’t take off from the bar that much. But it’ll be something?”
“I’d like that a lot, actually. I could come there too. I can talk to Declan about giving me a few days here or there.”
“Hey, if you do, I might actually go explore Salt Lake City.”
He laughs. “You still haven’t?”
“Aside from the art galleries I went to with Ana a couple weeks ago? No. I don’t have anyone to go with. But anyway, yeah. I’m going to look into that. I need to see you.”
Jordan leans forward, dark hair falling over one shoulder. “Me too. I miss you, Miles.”
When our eyes meet, I know he’s thinking the same thing I am.
Visiting won’t be enough. The goodbyes will be cruel.
But it’s only three months. We keep telling ourselves that. It’s only three months.
How time stretches when your heart is not in the same place you are.
I sit on the edge of the couch, hand curled around the phone like it’s the only thing tethering me.
“I’ll start reading tonight.”
He snorts. “No, you won’t. You’re going to crash as soon as your pretty little head hits the pillow.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“Miles. You’re exhausted. Save it for this weekend, okay?”
I sigh. “I’ll try. Did you get my package?”
He jerks up. “Oh, shit! I forgot. I haven’t even been outside at all yet.”
“What? Your poor plants.”
“I know! I was focused on finishing that for you.”
He hustles through the house, phone bouncing all over. It makes me a little seasick.
Sunlight blinds the camera when he steps outside, turning the screen to pure white before he’s moving again.
“Hi, Gena!” Jordan calls. After a few paces, Jordan lowers his voice. “You know what I just realized?”
