“He’s not my young man. We’re just friends.”
“Excuse us a moment, sweetheart.” Mom clanged back up the stairs. “Your dad and I have to check the apartment one more time.” Which they’d already done. Twice.
Very understanding. I had already refocused my attention on the guy shutting the door to his truck.
“Hey,” Scott said. He was in his uniform with shades on.
“Hey.” I would’ve met him halfway, except his expression seemed awfully wary. I wished I could see his eyes. “Thanks for coming.”
“Sure.” He gestured toward the two full vehicles. “It looks like you’re ready to leave.”
“Yeah, soon. We want to reach Newman by early afternoon.”
He nodded. Looked around. Shuffled his feet. “Have a great semester.”
We’d never had “that” conversation. Why? Was he scared? Did he not want to disappoint me? I didn’t want to drive away from him, not knowing. “Scott, what are we?” I gestured between us. “What kind of relationship do we have?”
He licked his lips. “We’re friends.”
Oh, no, no. We were past friends. He was really important to me. I wanted to be really important to him. Did I have the courage to ask? If he felt the same way, would he be brave, too?
One of us had to be. “Could you ever be interested in being more than friends?”
“I could.”
My legs went all rubbery on me, and I stumbled forward, straight into his waiting arms. He smelled like Scott—a delicious combination of fresh clothes, manly body wash, and the faintest hint of sweat. I closed my eyes and breathed him in. I would be gone in a few minutes, and I needed to memorize this moment, because it would have to last me for a while. “Are you sure about us?” I whispered. “I’m messed up.”
“Messed up doesn’t scare me.”
“I am so glad to hear that.”
He had one hand splayed at my waist and the other cupping my neck. His hold was secure and sweet. Familiar and new. “Hey. Look at me, please.”
I peeked at his face and found that his smile was almost as big as mine.
“Trust me, Sara. You’re going to be okay. Don’t apologize for taking as long as you need. There is no deadline for getting better.” He hugged me hard against him. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too.”
He eased from my arms. “So, I guess I should go.”
I knew the time had come for us to part and hated it just the same. “I’m kind of regretting that we waited to talk until five minutes before I leave.”
“This was the right way to do it. We shouldn’t start something just as you’re going away. You’ll be at college for the next four months. You need to have fun without guilt. No worrying about a guy you left behind.”
Oh, wow. That was smart and honorable and frustrating. And exactly what I needed. “No guilt for you, either.”
He shrugged.
“Just to be clear, we’re having this conversation again in four months? When I get back?”
“Yes. We’re free to date other people, and if we’re both single at Christmas, we’ll see what happens.”
I knew what would happen, but his plan made sense. “Can we still text and talk?”
“I hope so.”
“So we’re staying in touch. As much as we want.”
