Page 77 of Lust For

I laugh. “Well, I was, but he got a phone call of his own.” I decide to leave the part about Serena out. I don’t want to give her too much info because there isn’t anything to worry about. I know that. He never looks irritated when he talks to me like he does with her. “But yeah, things are moving along with the house. The rest of the stuff will be picked up tomorrow, and then the day after, I head out to LA for a little bit of filming. Derek is actually coming with me.”

“Oh really? Does he live near where you film?” Emma sings with delight.

“No, he doesn’t. But he’s gonna stay with me for a little bit. There are some bands nearby that he can get away with seeing, so he’ll do that while I film or sleep. We’ll have a few days before he has to go back to the guys.”

“Where will you go?” she asks.

“Aw, sunshine, is that your way of asking me if I’ll be coming back to you soon? Do you miss me?”

“Yeah, of course I miss you.”

I smile. I miss her too. When I’m living in Cary, we typically see each other a few times a week. Between her work, my training sessions, and my content creation, we can’t see each other every day, but we make it work.

“I’m not going back to the beach house if that’s what you mean. The realtor will be stopping by. Mom and Dad know her, so she can just meet with them via Zoom and get everything taken care of with an empty house. Thank God.” I roll my eyes, and I’m pretty sure Emma can hear my irritation over the phone. I was so glad that Laura was able to work with us and do most of the work through Zoom. Because I have to get back to Cary. I have some new training sessions set up with the NC Courage. They’re also hosting some camps with potential college soccer players, so they’d like for me to train them. I’m a little exited for this opportunity, and I’m hoping it leads to more training or a full-time position with them. Currently, I’m just rotated in with their other trainers.”

“Oh, good. I need some girl time.”

“Me too,” I tell her. It hits me then that I’ll be coming home without Derek. He’ll be in LA, and I’ll be halfway across the world with a three-hour time difference to contend with.

“Are you gonna miss him?”

I don’t say anything; instead, I steal a glance at him. He’s watching me and smiling. After giving me a wave, he turns back to face the beach.

“I’m guessing that silence is my answer,” Emma replies. “Have you two talked about it at all?”

“Nope,” I say popping the P.

“Afraid to ask him?” she says with a giggle.

“Kinda,” I admit. “I know he likes me. But I’m not really sure how long he’ll like having me around for, you know? Especially since the guys won’t be too thrilled with this. Brent knows and he’s probably ready to kill both of us.”

Emma laughs. “They’ll get over it. Like Derek said, you’re both adults.”

“True.”

Emma’s been texting me relentlessly, asking for updates and just checking in. I can tell she’s worried about me. With everything going on with Dad, then add Derek to the mix…it’s been a roller coaster of a few weeks.

There’s a rumble of thunder letting us know we’re about to get some much-needed rain. It’s been so humid out here lately. We could use the rain to cool things off, if only for a minute.

“Do you want me to let you get back to your man? You’ve gotten quiet over there,” Emma says.

“Soon. I was just watching the weather. It looks like it might rain here soon.”

“More like you were peeping on your man and hoping it’s about to rain down some Derek all over you.” She laughs at her own joke, and I can’t help but join in.

“You’re so subtle, Emma,” I tease.

“But of course.”

I look over when I feel a pair of eyes on me, and there’s Derek watching me. His phone call is over. I move to turn around, but he juts his lips out, pouting a bit.

“Hey, did you hear me?” Emma is asking me.

“Crap. No, I’m sorry.”

“Getting distracted over there, huh? I’m gonna let you go, but promise you’ll give me a call. I just want to check on you and make sure you don’t need anything, okay?”

“I appreciate it, Em. Thanks for everything.”

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