I text Addie once I can no longer hear my pulse roaring in my ears.
Zander
I looked around. Couldn’t find it. Heading over now!
The half hour drive gives me a lot of time think. By the time I pull into Addie’s driveway, I’ve thought up at least twenty unhinged scenarios for today’s meeting. Each one a little less plausible than the one before, but not impossible. I roll my shoulders and exit the vehicle. Lucy paws at the window.
“Don’t worry, I would never forget about you,” I say, unhooking her from the seat.
She bounds out of the car and up to Adelaide’s front porch, whinnying to be let in. I grab my laptop bag from the backseat. Addie is at the door, wearing an obnoxious shirt embroidered with the wordsTeam Zander. I laugh.
“What is that?”
“Would you prefer I be team Edward?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Okay, so afterGilmore Girls, it’s theTwilight Sagafor us.”
She lets me into the house and bends down to give Lucy the attention she craves. I drop my bag on the bench beneath the stairs. Lucy circles Addie’s legs, then stretches up on her thighs. Addie laughs at the sloppy kisses.
“Lucy missed you,” I say, which is a thinly veiled confession of how much I missed her in my space. And how much I dread today.
“I missed her, too,” she whispers, but she meets my gaze for it, all soft lines and glassy eyes. Something heavy passes between us. She straightens and wraps her arms around me. “You’re okay, Zander. We’re good. Nothing changes.”
I exhale and it feels like the first time I’ve been able to breathe in days. My shoulders relax. The permanent ache in my neck disappears. I hold her close and kiss her forehead.
“I love you,” I say on a sigh.
“Hey, Addie!” Willow calls, jogging down the stairs and tensing me up all over again. Addie rubs a hand between my shoulders as Lucy lets out a sharp bark. Willow takes in the scene and snorts. “Yeah, so, what’s the big deal with this USB? Do you not have a backup?”
“I do. Kind of,” Addie says, reluctantly pulling away from me. She purses her lips and lets the anxiety over the situation show. “But they’re just emails, pictures, and notes all over. The USB was my centralized place. It would take forever to compile everything again.”
Willow shrugs, like this is nothing. “Can’t help you then. Haven’t seen it. You should be smarter with your research next time.”
Addie moves to respond, but no words come out of her mouth before Willow vanishes somewhere in the house. From what little I’ve seen of Willow, this seems to be her pattern. She’ll say something snarky, then disappear. And speaking as someone who’s lived the bitter and run kind of life, I do hope she figures herself out, just maybe not at Addie’s expense.
I pull Addie to my side, snaking an arm around her waist. “How much time do we have?”
She looks down at the screen of her watch and wakes it up. “Few hours. We could just hang out for a bit, watch TV or something to take our minds off everything. Peggy told me her plan, but if you have any ideas I’m open to them.”
“No, I—Gilmore Girls, right?”
It’s shockingly normal to curl up with Adelaide on her couch after days of uncertainty. I know it’s short lived. This could be the last time we ever do it if Gran’s plan fails. So I hold Addie close and linger on the way her mouth moves as she lets me know she’ll judge me for which person I decide is best for Lorelai and Rory.
Time slips away with her in my arms. I try to pay attention to the show and the fun facts Addie throws my way every few minutes, but I’m memorizing the shape of her body against mine. I’m counting the constellation of freckles across her cheeks. I’m noting the shades and highlights of red in her hair. I’m—
“Can you stop being so angsty, dude?” Addie says. She twists in my arms, her leg hooking around mine. “I’m not going anywhere. I already told you; you’re not breaking up with me. That goes for everyone else. They are not breaking us up.”
I place a hand beneath her chin, tilt her face further toward mine, and channel everything into a kiss. She returns it with a ferocity that sends want shooting through my body. Want and desire for our future together. When she pulls back, my head spins at the smirk on her lips.
“This is not our last kiss,” she whispers, a breath away.
“I know it’s not,” I say. I run my thumb over her bottom lip. “I refuse.”
A wicked grin transforms her features, and my God, I love her. If it wasn't totally insane, I’d get down on one knee right now and solve our problem with legal documentation that this town cannot get rid of me. Instead, I kiss her again.
“Addie, I gotta go! Can you get this dog out of the way?” Willow shouts from the foyer.
