Page 67 of Be My Reason

“No running.No matter what. We work our problems out together.”

“Done,” he says quickly.

“I’m not finished yet.” I scold him.

“Sorry,” he says with a boyish smile.

“Trust. We have to try to trust each other. I promise to take what you say into more consideration than maybe I have in the past. But, Nate, you have to trust me, despite your past, you have to place your trust in me until I give you reason to question it.”

He closes his eyes and nods his head. “Okay, baby. For you. . . I will try.”

I extricate myself from his lap and gather up the courage for the conversation I am about to initiate.I’ve done a lot of thinking the past few days. He is leaving soon and we have to deal with it. Plus, the bubble already burst so . . .

“Nate, what are we going to do when you leave in nine days?” I brace myself for his response.

He leans back against the couch cushion and pulls my legs over his lap. “Yeah, I thought you might want to talk about that.”

“It’s just that, these last few days apart, they were horrible.I’m not sure what I will do without you here.” I reach up and brush my fingers over his three-day stubble that I have come to love so much. “I know the circumstances were different, but still . . .”

“I’ve thought a lot about this,” he says.“Not only in the past few days, but since I moved in here. Even before we were together I was wondering how it was going to be when we couldn’t see each other every day.” He looks me straight in the eye. “Brooklyn, if you ask me to move down here, I will.”

What?

Okay, this I did not expect. Himmove down here? I thought he would ask me to go with him to Raleigh. I was sure of it. I was also sure that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave Brooklyn’s. But he is offering to move here—for me—it’s the perfect solution.

“You can work from Savannah?” I ask, hopefully.

“Well, yes and no.” He furrows his brow. “I won’t be able to stay with R.A.D., but there are plenty of other firms that would probably make me a nice offer.”

Okay, nota perfect solution then. He would have to quit his job as junior partner with his dad’s company. The company that he hopes to run one day. Plus there is the fact that he hates it here. His mother is here. He avoids going out whenever possible. I remember when we were in Raleigh, how he had so much energy and excitement about the city. He couldn’t wait to get out and show us his favorite spots.

No.I can’t ask him to leave the city and the job that he loves. I love him too much to ask him to do that. “I can’t ask you to move here.” I close my eyes and sigh. “I can’t ask you to give up all the things that you love.”

“I loveyou, Brooklyn.” He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it. “I love you more than those things.”

If it is possible, my heart swellswith even more love and adoration for this man. I feel a tear trickle down my cheek. “Oh, Nate. I love you, too. And that is why I won’t ask you to move here.” I sit up, turn towards him with my legs crisscrossed in front of me. “Emma and Graham lived apart for two years.Two whole years. And they ended up married.” I feel the blush creep up my face. “Well, not that . . . um . . .”

Nate laughs. “I get it. I know. I lived with the other half, remember? I saw the late-night Skyping and endless phone calls and weekend visits.”

“Do you think we could do that? Live without touching each other every day? Live for the weekends?” I ask him.

He watches himself trace a finger down the side of my arm, making goose bumps appear all over my body. “It’ll be hard. I’m not gonna lie. Not touching you is going to practically kill me.”

In a bold display of courage I say, “Well, when you can’t touch me. . . we’ll Skype and I’ll do it for you.” I scrunch my eyes shut and feel the heat come up my face.

He stills completely and says, “Brooklyn, you just made me get instantly hard.” He takes my hand and directs it to his lap. “Do I really have to wait until I’m back in Raleigh to see that?”

“Yes. You have to wait.” I give his hard length a squeeze. “I have to give you something to look forward to.”

“Now I can’t wait to move,” he teases. Then he picks me up and carries me to our bedroom. “I guess I’d better show you what you’ll be missing.”

~ ~ ~

Needless to say, we did exactly that.I lie here in bed, on the morning of his departure and think back over the past week and a half. We put ourselves firmly back into our bubble. Nate really enjoyed my repeated ‘apologies’. We had so much sex I ended up getting a UTI, ‘honeymoon-itis’ they called it. But it was worth it. We also worked out a schedule. Every weekend, we will alternate visiting each other. Nate even went out and bought us matching new laptops with the largest screens possible, for the ‘ultimate Skype experience’ he said. He is such an idiot.

But he’smyidiot. And I love him more than words can express. I watch him sleep. I’ve been up since dawn watching him sleep. This is what I will miss the most. Waking up in his arms, our limbs tangled together, his hands running down my back. His breath in my ear. His mouth on my body.

“Are you objectifying me?”He slowly opens his eyes while his mouth spreads into a huge smile.

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