Page 157 of Forever Then

Her face gives nothing away, but the leg she squeezes between my calves and the hand reaching for my waist tells me she needs to be close.

“And you want to do it?”

The only thing I want is to be with her, but this is a big opportunity that could open even bigger doors for me in New York. “I’m not surewantis the right word.”

“You think youshoulddo it, then?”

Hair coiled around my finger, I wrestle with my hesitation. “You know Lauren’s dad is my boss?”

“Yeah,” she says, not a bit of worry or concern at the mention of my ex-girlfriend.

“I’ve worked for him for seven years and he’s been really good to me. I don’t know, a part of me feels like it’s the right thing to do before I give him my notice.”

She cradles my cheek, thumb sweeping in slow strokes. “But…”

“But I don’t want to be away from you that long. I don’t need to do it to get a good job in New York.” I pull her in for a kiss. “And I don’t want you to think I’d be saying yes out of some misplaced loyalty to my ex-girlfriend’s dad whenyouare the most important thing in the world to me.”

Ever since Mr. Driskill extended the offer, I’ve been weighing the pros and cons, intentionally trying to tip the scales in both directions to determine the best course of action. What I’ve come up with is there’s no right answer, but there’s also not a wrong answer.

“Careful, QB, my over-thinking is rubbing off on you,” she says with a smile.

I shift down the mattress and level my eyes with hers. “What do you think I should do?”

“I think,” she kisses me softly, “I’m yours, whether you move to New York next week, or four months from now.”Another kiss. “And I think I already fell in love with you once over a year’s worth of phone calls and texts.”Another kiss. “I have no doubt, it’ll be enough to sustain us for a few months. And,”kiss,“I trust you,”kiss,“and I think you should do it.”

I blink slowly as my hand settles on the dip of her waist. “Are you sure?”

“Your loyalty is not misplaced. It’s honorable and I don’t fault you for it. You and me? We’ll be fine.”

Rolling on top of her, I settle between her legs, kissing her fiercely. As much as I needed to hear those words, now I need to touch them, to feel them.

When I make love to her this time, we don’t need words. Our bodies talk and sing in harmony all on their own. My heart inrhythm with hers as I rock into her, there’s no rush to the finish line. Many lazy, savoring minutes later, I inhale the satisfied cries of her climax, with a single “I love you” whispered against her lips.

The next morning,I drop Gretchen off at the airport on my way to work.

I opted for full transparency when I got to the office and told Mr. Driskill I’m excited to accept the team lead position but that once the project is over I’ll be moving to New York. Thankful that I’ve given him four months notice of my departure, we shake hands and it’s done.

That night, instead of texting Drew again—because that’s gotten me nowhere—I text Reagan.

Me

Can you at least confirm he’s alive and breathing?

Reagan

Roger that. Confirmed. He needs more time.

Tuesday comesand Gretchen calls me after her first-round interview to tell me it went well. Encouraged by the good feedback she received and the glowing review Monica, her old boss, had put in on her behalf, she decided she was finally ready to start apartment hunting, but only online because she didn’t want to jinx it.

Naturally, I started doing my own research and forwarded at least a half-dozen listings to her. Many didn’t include pictures, which I found odd, but New York is foreign to me so I looked past it.

Gretchen

Oh sweet boy. It’s really cute of you to think I’m going anywhere near the shoebox apartments in my price range in New York.

Me

This one says it’s a studio with a street view and a walk-in closet.

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