I already miss you, but if I wait any longer I’ll miss my flight.
Love,
Harv
Oh.
Well.
I guessed that was that, then. Playing pretend was over.
I read the note a few more times over, tracing the letters, remembering what Dante had said about Harvey’s last note. Did this one say more than just the words written on the paper?
I thought about sending him a picture of it, but hesitated as soon as I pulled my phone out.
This wasmynote. I wasn’t ready to share it yet.
I missed Harvey. I always missed Harvey when he left, and I hadn’t had to watch him leave in a long time. It’d take me a while to get used to him being gone again.
Theo hopped onto the bed all by himself—the first time he’d done it—and immediately went to Harvey’s side, sniffing the empty spot.
The thought that it wasHarvey’s sidemade my stomach clench. So much for getting me ready to jump back on the dating horse, or whatever Dante had said.
Theo sat heavily and looked at me, eyes soft and head tilted. I didn’t have to be psychic to know what he was thinking.Where’s Harvey?
I rolled over to Harvey’s side of the bed to cuddle Theo, breathing in the scent of that aftershave I hadn’t been able to get enough of, of my shampoo on his hair, ofhim, that undefinable scent that was comforting and heartbreaking all at the same time.
I knew Harvey had to live his life, it was just that part of me wished he could have lived it here.
With me.
“He’s coming back,” I told Theo. “He loves you.”
I wasn’t sure which one of us I was saying that for.
Theo licked my face, which I decided to take as a sign that he understood.
“Andhe left you treats,” I added, pushing the sad thoughts away and managing a smile for Theo. “Let’s go get ‘em.”
27
Harvey
My stomach was killingme by the time I stepped off the plane at LAX, and being in LAX didn’t help at all.
I got through the maze between the plane and the exit with a pounding headache, sunlight streaming through the huge windows not helping at all.
I missed Iggy’s window with the mottled sunlight filtering through the trees.
I missed Iggy.
Harvey:made it to LA in one piece
Already miss you, I didn’t add.
Iggy:good, thank you for letting me know
Was that short? Or did Iggy just text like that? I couldn’t decide as I frowned at the message, but I couldn’t work out what else to say. Iwantedto ask if he was mad at me, if we were still friends—whether or not we’d promised we always would be—whether he was having a good day, whether Theo liked the treats I’d left for him.
