Page 50 of Chosen

I groaned at the thought. I knew my confession would come with an implied understanding; a hidden question buried inside of it. If I had feelings for Sam and he had feelings for me, there’d have to be something done about the whole Virginia/Atlanta thing, wouldn’t there?

How the hell were we ever going to cross that bridge? There was no way I could ever leave Roanoke, not with my business being here. And would Sam really be able to leave Atlanta, with his job being located there?

And more importantly, would Sam think I was completely out of my mind for even asking him about this when we’d only met a few days ago?

My racing thoughts were interrupted by my phone vibrating in my pocket. I answered the call, bringing it up to my ear, my breaths more even than before. “Hello?”

“You miss me yet?” Parker was on the other end of the line. “I don’t think we’ve been apart this long in a very long time.”

I smirked before I replied. “Surprisingly, I do. Just a little. It’s hard not to miss your little jabs and unhelpful comments when they’ve become such a staple in my day.”

“Very funny, Anderson.” Parker playfully scoffed. “Anyway, I think tomorrow’s the day.”

“The day for what?”

“For your very delayed rescue.” Parker grinned. “I think I’ll actually be able to get the Jeep up to you sometime tomorrow. Help you out, bring you both back to the main cabin. It’ll be nice finally getting to meet Mr. Watson after all this time.”

“Oh. That’s…”

“That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” Parker pressed. “Is this one of those situations where you’ve been somewhere else this whole time? Damon, did you secretly fly to Hawaii and take a vacation without me?”

“No, I’m here.” I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see it. “I’m just surprised. That’s all.”

“You shouldn’t be. Jacob’s been dying on the inside ever since you’ve been gone. He tries to play it cool, but I can tell it’s eating him alive to not have his right-hand-man here.”

“You’re there with him. I’m sure he appreciates that.”

“The problem with genius, Damon, is that it’s often underappreciated in its own time.” Parker let out a dramatic sigh.

“I think the other problem is that it’s hard to tell genius from delusions of grandeur—”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, buddy.” Parker chuckled as he cut me off. “And don’t be such a hater. Everyone knows I’m the brains behind this operation.”

Parker ended the phone call before I had a chance to refute his claim of genius. I smiled to myself as I put my phone away, genuinely missing Parker’s smartass comments as part of my day.

But just as my phone settled into my pocket, a cold chill swept over me.

Tomorrow.

Parker was going to be here tomorrow, breaking the bubble I’d been in with Sam this whole time, reminding us that there was something outside of the cabin.

Reminding us that reality was just around the corner.

The reality where Sam and I didn’t live in the same state. The reality where I still didn’t know where Sam stood emotionally. The reality where I could’ve very well been about to hand my heart to a man who was going to crush it right in front of me—

No.

If I lived with that kind of fear, if I talked myself out of even trying, there’d be nothing left of Sam and me by the time his trip to Roanoke was done. I needed to do this, and I needed to do this now, before the doubt crept even further under my skin than it already had.

I gathered my breath and all confidence as I turned to head back to the cabin, my legs pumping as hard as they could in the opposite direction. I didn’t stop until I was standing outside, my hands going down to my hips as I caught my breath, not wanting to tumble into the cabin with a breathless, confusing admission, one that Sam would quirk an eyebrow at instead of immediately returning.

But before I had a chance to finish steadying my heartrate, Sam pulled open the door.

“Back from your jog already?” he asked, with a smile. “I was trying to time the coffeemaker. I would’ve already got a pot started but I didn’t think you’d be back just yet—”

“I feel for you!” I blurted out the words, my worst nightmare coming to life in real time.

Oh, my God.

---