Page 34 of Intersect

“He wouldn’thaveto follow us everywhere,” I say quietly, staring at my glass of wine. “He’d just have to follow usoncesuccessfully.”

Caroline throws her hands in the air. “This guy is obviously your soul mate! And when you find your soul mate, you can’t just curl up in a ball and decide to skip it because you’ve hit a little roadblock. Especially with a dude who looks likethat.”

I wish they’d leave so I could sleep. I want to sleep until this is over with, whateverthisis. Grief, pain, shock. Except it’s not going anywhere soon. “It’s not alittleroadblock,” I reply. “He’s going to lose his medical license because of me if this continues. Do you know how many years he’s invested in this? How much money? Four years of college, four years of med school, four years of residency. All to end up empty-handed because of me. It would be selfish to even allow him to continuethis.”

“Well, I think it’s selfish of you to try to make his decisions for him,” repliesCaroline.

I swallow hard, running a finger over the rim of my wineglass. “I hung up the phone earlier today and he never called back, so he must agree at some level.” It’s for the best he didn’t argue with me about it, even if it sort of hurts at the sametime.

The two of them continue to argue until the doorbell rings. Then they exchange a glance and jump to theirfeet.

“You invited someone else?” Iask.

They both ignore me. “Get your purse,” Trevor says toCaroline.

“Wait…” I demand, rising. “What’s going on here?” I start moving farther from the door. Knowing Trevor, he’s called a male prostitute to cheer meup.

“You, my little sad sack, are going to do some chatting,” says Trevor, heading toward the door with Caroline at his heels. They open it and walk out, which is when I hear a voice I’d recognizeanywhere.

Nick.

He walks in, so beautiful I want to weep at the sight of him. He’s wearing a navy-blue tee that makes his eyes look impossibly blue and ends right at his biceps. An arrow sayinglook at my magnificent armscouldn’t do a better job of calling attention to them. “It’s ridiculously unfair that you’re wearing that shirt,” I whisper, my voice hoarse with the need tocry.

His eyes move over me—hair, face, moving down to the floor and back up—before he remembers to shut the door. “I needed to use every advantage available,” he says, with the barest ofsmiles.

I want nothing more in the entire world than to fall into his arms like this is some dumb movie, but it’s not. “I assume Caroline and Trevor are behindthis?”

He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Nope, this is all on me. Fortunately, they both agree you’re beinginsane.”

I groan. “It’s easy for them to say that. They’re not the ones who will lose a medical license because ofthis.”

He crosses the room and presses me to the wall. “I’m not going to lose my license either.” His mouth lands on mine, hard. He kisses me with a desperation I feel all the way to my bones, one that matches my own. His hands move from my hips, slide into my shirt and it’s only when I gasp—the good kind of gasp—that he backsaway.

“Fuck,” he groans. “What am I doing? I’m trying to persuade you to take me back, but not likethis.”

I inhale sharply, wishing I could regret it as much as he seems to. So far, my attempt to do the right thing is going reallypoorly.

He pulls me against his chest, tucking my head safely beneath his chin. “I’ve been sick to my stomach since youcalled.”

My breath hitches, a small sob trapped in my throat. “If I were healthy it would be different. But I’m not. How can I let you risk everything for what will amount to a year or two of your longlife?”

He pulls back just enough to see my face. “I can only assume you don’t feel nearly as much for me as I do for you or you’d get this. I don’t care about the years after you’re gone. I’m not even sure Iwantthose years. I just want the time you have left, every fucking minute ofit.”

I feel light entering more of the dark space inside me, as something that’s waited a lifetime to blossom begins to unfurl. But this isn’t about me. “That’s exactly how I feel too, but Nick…you should have seen the look on his face. He was really determined. He’s going to stop at nothing until he hasproof.”

He gives me that cocky grin of his. “We’ll just need to be a little cleverer than him which—no offense—shouldn’t be that hard. He might try to trail you for a little while but eventually he’s going to tire of coming up empty-handed. In the meantime, we figure out what’s behind the tumor and if we can cure it, and maybe we find your aunt or somebody else who can fabricate a past for the two ofus.”

I sigh. “Okay. I’ll try harder—to time travel, I mean. Maybe Ican—”

“No,” he says fiercely. “I don’t want you to tryanymore.”

My eyes widen. “Why the sudden change?” I ask. “A day ago, you were pleading with me totry.”

“That’s before I talked to my grandfather. We can discuss it later, but suffice it to say, it’s a lot more dangerous than I realized. We need to find anotherway.”

“What if we don’t, though?” Iask.

“We will,” he says. “We’ll find another way because there’s no other choice. You’re my life. You’re the only part of it I want. And we will find a way to fix this.” I love his words and they break my heart at the same time, because there’s this deep sadness to his eyes as he voices them, a sadness I can’t explain. Maybe he’s finally decided I’m not going to beat this. Whatever the reason, I have no doubt I’m the source of his pain, and that I’ll continue to be for a long, longtime.

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