Page 21 of Mr. Broody

“Then what is it?”

He took my hands, the warmth of his covering my always cold ones. “I don’t think you should come.”

My shoulders dropped, and I sank back into the couch, chest tight. “Come where?”

I knew what he was saying, but I hoped so badly that he meant something different. I didn’t want it to be what I already knew in my gut it was.

“To Chicago.” He inhaled a deep breath, his eyes never leaving mine.

My Henry. So assured, so confident, so persistent. He must have been thinking about this for a while because Henry wasn’t a spontaneous person. He was a thinker, an analyst, a pros and cons kind of guy. He wouldn’t bring this to me unless he’d been pondering it a long, long time.

“Why?” I tried to slide my hands out of his, but he tightened his hold, so I stopped fighting him.

“I think you know why…” He ran his fingers through mine, as if memorizing the way our fingers locked together so perfectly. “You’ve stood by my side and watched me reach my biggest goal in life. And I…” His voice cracked as tears filled my eyes so fast that they were moments from slipping down my cheeks. “I love you too much to let you come to Chicago, Jade. It’s not where you want to be. Not where you need to be. You’d only be going back for me and…” He shook his head.

“I don’t understand. We already have the apartment.” The thought of us parting brought with it so much fear that it almost paralyzed me.

“And I’ll move into it. Alone.” His eyes glistened with tears.

My heart cracked. Not splintered, but full on cleaved in two. Because a part of me knew he was right. I wanted to rail against his words, fight him with all I had, but he’d made his decision. Not a selfish decision. Not a rash decision. He hadn’t found some other woman or decided I wasn’t the one for him. The love was etched into his gorgeous face, his blue eyes overflowing with concern for me. My mom had been lecturing me for years about following Henry around. I’d chalked it up to my mom following my dad, which had ended up in a divorce because he cheated. I didn’t resent Henry, but the truth was that I was confused about what I wanted to do, and with graduation came the pressure to make a decision.

But still… the idea of not having him by my side… “Henry, I’m good. I’m fine.”

His head shook again, and he scooted closer to me on the couch. “I can’t do it, Jade. I want to. Believe me. I want to move you to Chicago, make love to you every night. Surprise you with dinners, Sunday breakfasts, and explore the parts of the city we’ve never discovered hand in hand. I want to give you everything… but that wouldn’t be fair… to you.”

I stared at our hands. His knee touching mine. And I wanted to take a picture, never forget us because what would become of our future if I didn’t go to Chicago with him?

What would I even do?

Henry pulled out his phone and did something on the screen, then I heard my phone ding across the room. “I bought you a ticket to Holland. I just sent it to you.”

“What?” I sat up, his hands falling to the couch. “Why would you do that?”

“Jade, that article about your talent…”

“Oh god, Henry, is that what this is about?”

A couple of months ago, there was an article written about my photography for the school magazine. I had a decent following after taking some pictures of Henry, which turned into more hockey players wanting me to take pictures of them on and off the ice. I loved the sports photography, but it was the nights at dusk when I’d drag Henry somewhere remote to capture the sunset that really thrilled me. I loved the beauty around us that most people ignored—or worse, didn’t have time to enjoy. He’d been on me about that article and the compliments from the professors saying I had a rare eye since the moment it came out.

“Yes.”

“I told you?—”

He leaned in, his palm cradling my cheek, bringing my gaze to his. “And you’re wrong. You’re so talented, but you’ll never find out just how much until you go and discover it for yourself.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “But…”

“The internet says Holland is a beautiful place. Start there.”

I rose to my knees and wrapping my arms around his neck. My tears chased one another down my cheeks as I clung to him. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“You have to,” he whispered. “I’m afraid if you don’t, you’ll resent me someday, and I can’t handle that, Jade.”

I inhaled his scent of a fresh shower and him. My Henry. The boy who was my best friend and had showed me how I should be loved. I’d never find anyone like him again.

“Tell me you’ll go,” he asked softly.

My arms tightened, and I climbed into his lap, needing the comfort of his body. He knew me better than anyone else. He saw all of it. My fear to put myself out there. My restlessness and desire to explore, but my fear to leave him. My terror that I might be making the biggest mistake of my life. But still he pushed me, bought me a ticket, and somehow it only made me trust the fact that he had made the decision because he thought it was what was best for me. But still, I couldn’t answer him.

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