Page 58 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things

My eyes were officially beginning to cross from how long I had been reviewing my notes inside of the temple.

The bracelet I had found was still at the lab being analyzed, and the ministry hadn’t renewed the project for next year’s season yet, either. It wasn’t a hard no, but if we finished empty-handed in the next ten days, it was very probable that James’s work on this temple would be over, even though he had discovered it.

The stress was getting to him. Though he never admitted it, I could just tell. His shoulders were always tensed under his ears. He wasn’t a smiler in general, but his frowns had deepened, and the little wrinkles that he had gained from sun exposure were more prominent. I could feel the worry in his kiss and in his touch. I wished I could take it all away and find the answers he needed.

Even if I could, my own dark cloud would still loom over me. Whether or not we found any answers about the dig, I was still going home soon, and I didn’t know where I stood with James. That was perhaps the most difficult part of this puzzle—the pieces that made up my heart. I didn’t want to ask questions and turn over pieces only to find out that they didn’t fit together. My soul couldn’t take it.

I hadn’t expected to fall as hard as I had for James. This was meant to have just been a fling. A panty-soaking trope that I could check off my bucket list.

James never broached the topic, either. Did he even feel the same way about me? When we were together, I was convinced he did, but his continued silence on the topic led me to believe otherwise. Maybe he didn’t want to discuss it because he wanted a clean break from me when the internship was over.

My chest ached thinking about packing up my stuff and leaving him behind, but I supposed all good things must eventually come to an end.

And to make matters more depressing, I had no news about the search for my uncle from the private investigator. I had spoken to Aaqil three days ago, and he’d said that he was still searching. I had abandoned hope that I’d get to meet my family before I left.

Why did I always have to lose the things that I loved?Reminder: Call Mom and make sure she’s still alive and breathing. If I lose her too, they’ll surely need to mummify me on the spot.

The weight on my shoulders was too heavy to bear, and my hands itched for something physical as a distraction. I slammed my notebook shut and scraped at the sand with my trowel furiously.

“You’re going to kill your wrist if you keep going like that.” James peered at me from the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. The material of his white shirt clung to his biceps.

I threw my tool aside and rubbed my wrist. He was right...it was already sore. “What does it matter? I’ll be home for the rest of the semester and summer doing nothing soon anyway.”

The sour note in my tone earned me a raised eyebrow, but he stayed rooted to the spot.

My head felt heavy, like there was a knot just above my brow. I rubbed at it to release some of the tension. “Do you need me for something?” I huffed out, unable to hide my irritation.

He took a seat on the ground next to me. “Did I do something?” he asked, his voice deepening.

I tried to brush him off. All the thoughts that raced in my head were getting to me. “I just needed some space to work.”

His fingers lifted my chin. “Kitten, talk to me.” The light from my flashlight bounced against the deep blue of his eyes.

I didn’t want to have this conversation at work, but too much of my stress was bubbling over and I was about to combust from worry. “What are we doing?”

He didn’t answer, but from the way that his brows fell and his shoulders sagged, he knew what I was referring to.

It was already out there floating between us now, so I continued. “I leave in ten days.”

He diverted his eyes to the pit in front of us, his fingers toying with the sand. “I know.”

“James. What do you want to happen?”

He let out a sigh. “In an ideal world, I would never have met you.”

The words struck me as if he had slapped my face.He regretted us.

“If I hadn’t met you, then I wouldn’t be straining to find ways to make you stay.”

My eyes darted to his for any hint of humor or sarcasm. But they were intense and honest.

“Y-you want me to stay?” I stuttered.

“Did you want to leave and end things?” Insecurity perforated his voice.

All I could do was laugh—snort, really. I had been so worried that I was just another notch in his headboard, and this man was worried that I wanted to leave him without a goodbye.

“I don’t see what’s so funny.” Now, he was the one who was annoyed.

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