“Um—” I sigh. “So, here’s the thing. Because I’m starting so late in the semester, they want me to be there tomorrow for orientation.”
The line goes quiet for a moment. The muscles in my face pinch together as I cringe.
“So, we only have one more night?” His tone is somber, disappointed.
“Yes,” I whisper, struggling to breathe.
He clears his throat before muttering, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
The line goes dead and I run downstairs, calling, “Mom!”
“Yes?” she asks as she sets a box on top of a stack near the front door. Her eyebrows knit together as I drag her away from Dad and into the kitchen. “Honey, what is it?”
“Noah’s coming over,” I say.
She tilts her head as she registers my frantic expression. “All right?”
I swallow against the dryness in my mouth. “Can you, Dad, and the kids go somewhere for a while? Out to dinner maybe?”
“Maeve Adelyn, are you asking me to willingly leave my daughter home alone with her boyfriend?” Her dark gaze pierces right through the bullshit lie I was in the process of formulating in my head.
“Yes,” I admit pathetically. “We just need to say goodbye.”
She studies me a moment before responding, “Fine. We’ll leave to go pick up a pizza for dinner, but that’s all the time I’ll give you two alone, Maeve. After that, he’s welcome to stay and join us for your last night at home.”
“You got it.” The tightness in my chest loosens a bit. “He’s just upset that we only get one final night together before I have to leave. This has all happened so fast.”
“That’s theonlyreason I’m agreeing to this, Maeve,” she stresses,her voice stern. “But even I have to admit, you both deserve a proper goodbye. Your lives are changing overnight.” The hard planes of her face soften. “I’ll go tell your father,” she says before she kisses my cheek and exits the kitchen.
I take a few deep breaths, trying to quell the fluttering in my stomach, before running upstairs to freshen up. I change clothes and brush through my tangles. When I look at myself in the mirror, my face is flushed.Don’t put the cart before the horse, I tell myself sternly. Just because we’re getting time alone and we’re both feeling emotional doesn’t mean anything out of the ordinary is going to happen. After all, we’ve been intimate plenty of times before.
Then why do the stakes feel so much higher tonight?
A quick inhale hisses past my teeth as I hear Mom calling from the foyer, “Goodbye, honey! We’re going to pick up the pizza. We’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“Bye!” I call back.
“Why doesn’t she just come with us?” I hear Dad protest. “This might be our last family outing together for a while.”
“Quiet now. I have my reasons,” Mom retorts with so much sass it brings an instant smile to my face.
I listen as the van backs out of the driveway and sigh, falling onto my bed. A few minutes later, I hear Noah’s car pull up. Like a reflex, I fly off the bed and bound down the stairs before wrenching the front door open to find Noah just as flushed as I am.
“Where are your parents?” he asks. “Their car—”
My lips cut his question off.
His hands are pinning me against the wall before I can even register that he’s already abandoned his jacket on the floor. My hands trail over his shoulders as I pull him closer, and his tongue slides greedily along mine.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” he murmurs against my mouth.
“Shush,” I urge, capturing his lips with mine once more.
Desire clutches me so tight that I almost forget to breathe, and when we finally break apart, we’re both panting heavily. I grab Noah’s warm, callused hand and climb the stairs. When we make it to my room, he takes in the boxes, the empty walls, the clean closet, and his face crumples.
“No,” I plead. “No sadness. Not right now. We can be sad tomorrow.”
He nods and studies me. His gaze isn’t judgmental or appraising. It’s loving.
