Page 63 of One More Weekend

Her head thrashed back and forth as she danced. The whole bar sounded along, creating an echo chamber of sound that all led to my ears.

Sy carried the tone out, my heart filling with love. I was almost unable to sit still as the song came to a close.

So instead, I let myself rush to the stage and grab her. I wrapped her in my arms, holding on to my best friend and the love of my life, for dear life.

Maybe if we just stayed like that, camped out on the stage of Winnie’s, tomorrow would never come.

But I knew there was no such luck.

A love like this came once in a lifetime – if we were lucky. To live in it forever was even rarer.

So instead, I’d just have to replay this feeling.

42

SY

The night replayedin my head even as the light started to peek through the window in my bedroom.

We stayed out late, despite Jenna’s early flight this morning. And when we got home, Jenna asked to sleep in my bed since hers had been disassembled.

Nodding, I looked at her in my doorway. My buzz had faded, and all I felt was a pit of sadness overwhelming my entire body. I moved aside, letting her into my sparsely decorated room.

She climbed into my bed, curling up under my duvet and settling on my chest. After a moment in the dark, Jenna lifted her head to meet my eyes. Like magnets, our lips met in a slow, strong kiss.

We forced ourselves apart, instead wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close. I held her like that all night, unwilling to let her move even an inch.

But somehow, she slipped out.

I rolled toward the empty space she’d left, patting the mattress to make sure she’d really gone.

From the sounds outside my door, I knew she had gotten up, preparing to leave the house on time. Even here, I could hear herfeet padding against the floors from one end of the apartment to the other.

It was finally here, the end of our lease. At least the end of our lease as we knew it.

There was no more avoiding it, just embracing it.

So I hauled myself out of bed, my body aching from my performance the night before. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, opting out of a bra for the day.

Maybe I should have planned to work today, but when it was time to make my schedule I thought it’d be the last thing I’d want to do on the day Jenna walked out of here.

Now, I was desperate for a distraction.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror on the back of the door, ruffling the blonde hairs into a vague order before sucking in a deep breath.

Gripping the doorknob, I forced myself to pull it open.

As soon as I did, a rush of noise flooded into my room. The sound of a tape gun rolling across a cardboard box drowned out the peaceful morning I’d just left behind.

“Hey.” Jenna offered a smile as she turned around. Even now, she couldn’t hide the disappointment.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked around the apartment. I couldn’t remember when all the moving boxes had started piling up but now they were inescapable. Every corner was filled with the life we’d built together being divided up and shipped out.

“Have you eaten?” I squinted my eyes in the sunlight. From the look on her face, she hadn’t; too anxious was my best guess.

Shaking her head, Jenna waved off my concern as she stacked up another box. “That’s the last one for the movers when they come.”

Laughing, I narrowed my eyes. “Are you going to eat?”