Page 166 of Never Let You Go

Are you sure?

Me

Yep. I want to spend time with you before the competition. Also, Sarah can’t wait to meet you lol

Christopher

I can’t wait.

I mean can’t wait to have you back

Nothing against Sarah

Me

haha. I know. Same. I want to see you before you leave

Christopher

:)

I should stop texting, because I’m going to end up telling him I’m staying, and that’s something I want to say in person. In private. With enough time to process everything. Because I’ll also tell him about Red Barn, and that’s going to need a conversation.

But I know it will go well. As long as I can explain everything. I know I should have opened up to him earlier about my childhood, but before I knew that our relationship was going to evolve into what it is now, it meant risking whatever we had. And I didn’t want that. I wanted to keep the little of him I could have.

He’ll understand why I didn’t tell him before. And I know he’ll accept me for who I am.

No one can be held responsible for who their parents or grandparents are.

* * * * *

It’s late afternoon when we get back to Emerald Creek. Sarah takes in the town’s charming architecture, the bakery’s quaint windows. She takes a deep breath, and her shoulders relax.

“It’s so peaceful here,” she says. Exactly what I felt when I first got here, almost six months ago.

The door to the bakery opens, and Christopher steps out. Our eyes lock, heat passing between us. It’s been only a day, and I’ve missed him so much. How did I ever think I could live without him?

He hesitates, not knowing how to greet me in public. I want to lunge myself at him and kiss him in front of everyone, but before I can do anything embarrassing, Sarah says, “You must be Christopher,” and hugs him, leaving him slightly off-kilter for a beat.

Christopher takes my duffel bag from me to take it upstairs to my room. I feel like I need to stay with Sarah, even if I’m dying to be alone with him and tell him everything. But that will take too long. I need to wait until tonight.

While Christopher is upstairs, I give her a quick tour of the bakery, and we sample maple bacon muffins.

Christopher comes down the stairs, and my insides melt. His gray button-down shirt is tight around his pecs, tucked inside the jeans that hug his hips in a manner that awakens the dirty girl in me.

The things I want to do to him tonight. After we have our talk, and all is good in the world. And before he goes to Boston for the competition.

“Why don’t I go with Sarah to check her into the inn,” I tell Christopher, “and then, we’ll meet up at Lazy’s?”

He nods. He looks tired, and I know he’s been using my time away to double down on prepping for his competition. If we go to Justin’s for dinner, we can cut the evening short.

And be alone earlier.

* * * * *

“You gotta love the creaking staircase,” Sarah remarks as we go to her room. “That screams vacation right there. At least for me.”

I learn that her room has a breathtaking view of the river and the countryside. Rolling hills, meadows, and pastures for as far as the eye can see. A side window gives a partial view of the village.

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