Page 92 of Colliding with Ten

I took a sip, thinking. Most phone calls don’t change lives, but we both knew this one might. I thought of all the reasons to keep my distance, but none changed how I felt. Lennox shifted from foot to foot as he waited.

“If you call.” I took a breath. “I’ll probably answer.”

Probably was a coward’s word. He raised a brow, and I wasn’t surprised. I shook my head. Was I really going to ignore him? Pretend I hadn’t spent three weeks wondering about him, watching his games, smiling every time his name came up? The timing was awful, the situation unfair, but I still wanted to hear from him.

I looked back at him. “Yes.” Of course, it was yes.

“Yes?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

He beamed, then took the coffee cup from my hand and set both cups on the ledge.

“What are you⁠—”

He stepped closer, my back against the pillar. The lobby faded as his thumb brushed my cheek like last night.

“I’m going to miss you,” he said.

He closed the distance and kissed me—warm lips tasting of coffee. His stubble scraped my upper lip as he tilted his head to fit us better. His tongue slid along the seam of my lips, asking, and I let him in. My nipples tightened at his groan. Then he pulled away before I knew it.

We stayed close, breathing the same air, foreheads almost touching. He tucked his finger under my chin, angling my head for another lingering kiss before letting go.

I dropped my forehead to his chest as his hand grazed my lower back. I felt weightless, butterflies rising in my stomach. He kissed the top of my head, then picked up our coffees and handed me mine.

“I’m glad I stayed.”

I looked at my cup, then met his eyes. “Me too.”

“I should go before I miss my flight.”

I nodded.

He wrapped his arms around me, and I melted into his embrace, breathing him in for the last time.

“Take care of that knee,” he said into my ear.

“I will.”

We pulled apart, neither wanting to let go first. He stepped back, lifted his coffee in a small salute, and turned toward his ride. I watched him go with a tiny ache in my gut.

At ten forty-three that night, my phone lit up while I was brushing my teeth at the bathroom sink. My hair was under a bonnet, and I wore AJ’s Hawks practice shirt. Bare-faced and with toothpaste on my chin, I was in no shape to be seen. When Lennox’s name popped up, I choked on the toothpaste, grabbed the counter, and coughed. I felt ambushed, even though I’d been waiting for this.

I rinsed and took a deep breath before I picked up on the third ring. “Hey.”

His voice was deep. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

I glanced in the mirror at my bonnet and toothpaste chin. “Nope. Perfect timing.”

I turned off the bathroom light, padded to bed, and tucked under the covers. We talked like we had in Denver, mostly about our schedules and seeing each other again. Around midnight, the conversation turned to my family.

“My dad called me last week.”

“Yeah?”

“He saw the Forge and Flight campaign announcement.” I picked at a loose thread on the blanket. “He said he was glad I was keeping busy.” I paused. “Which is his way of saying he thinks I’m wasting my time.”

“What does he want you to be doing?”