Page 38 of Two Weeks in Tahoe

I smile to myself, hearing that little tidbit. There was a time when I thought she didn’t want to find me, so hearing her best friend confirm that she was, in fact, looking for me too, makes me happy. I wish I could go back and tell my younger self who agonized over it some days.

“I appreciate the effort, Daniela. Thanks for looking out,” Liam responds to her.

“No worries,” she responds.

“Okay. Um, Daniela, I’m going to let you go, but have fun! And drink some water! And get lots of sleep. Love you,” Layla spits out.

“Love ya. Be good to my girl!”

Layla looks over at me, laughing and blushing a little.

“Wow. Sorry about that,” she laughs. “She can be very outspoken. But she was definitely hammered.”

I laugh. “It’s okay. She was funny,” I pause and then side-eye her. “So, every day huh? You were waiting for me?”

“Not every day. She’s clearly not a reliable source. It was only like…less than a handful of times.”

I hold her gaze as I slowly lean in and taste her sweet lips on mine, gently exploring her tongue with mine as I pull on her wild, thick hair. Cinnamon rolls and coffee. I think the taste might be my new favorite.

26

Layla

Liam has just gotten off the phone with a very excited, hyped-up Jackson. He’s having the best time at his grandparents’ house and was on a sugar high from leftover Halloween candy and pre-Thanksgiving treats. He asked if I was still at their house as soon as he got on the phone and wanted to say hi to me. After discussing the new cards he got and the sweets he ate for a few minutes, I said goodbye and gave the phone back to Liam.

Liam had checked on the roads shortly before that and found that they were finally plowed and clear to drive on. He called Jackson immediately after that to let him know that he’d be there in the late afternoon to pick him up.

To my surprise, I also got a message from the owner of my cabin earlier letting me know that he has a friend in the area who was on the way to fix the heater. It should hopefully be done in a few hours.

I hadn’t expected that to be taken care of today. After being snowed in together for two days we’re finally going to part. I feel a pang of disappointment. I know it has to end eventually though.

“You should come with me,” Liam says, looking hopeful.

“No, you need to have your family time. And I really should get back to my place.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. But I can’t thank you enough for letting me intrude. I had the best time.”

“Me too. And you weren’t intruding. Stop that,” he smiles, kissing my nose.

“I wonder how long it’s going to take for the cabin to heat up again.”

“Hopefully he’ll start it up when he’s done fixing it, and it’ll start warming back up before you get there.”

“Hopefully.”

“Tell Jackson I’ll see him soon?” I don’t want to be too presumptuous, but it definitely feels like we’ll be seeing each other again.

“Definitely.”

We still have a couple of hours left together, but it’s starting to feel weird, our looming departure so close after spending all this time together. Like we were trapped in a little bubble in time here in his home, and as soon as we leave, real life starts up again. Even though it’s still not real life for me, since I’m still going to be on vacation escaping reality. But I don’t want to leave here and be forced to face the difficulties of our situation.

**

I’m back in my cabin and it’s freezing. Two giant blankets cover my lap and I’m wearing a beanie and sweater. Liam even came in when he dropped me off and made sure the heater and thermostat were working, then he cranked it up to heat the cabin up quicker. The heater is, in fact, working again, but it has a lot of catching up to do after being out of service for two days.

Liam left a bit reluctantly, asking me once more if I wanted to go with him. Part of me wanted to say yes, but another part thought it would be better for us to have some time apart, so he can focus on visiting his family. Besides, I’m not ready to meet his family yet—I have no idea what we even are.

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