Page 119 of Catch Me
“As long as you have your art, right?”
Finally, he smiled again. “Nobody can take that from me.”
“Unless they cut off your hands.”
He burst into laughter, and I found myself dreading when we’d have to go our separate ways in two days. We hadn’t discussed the specifics of this thing yet, but the separation wouldn’t be forever. After the holidays, we’d figure out how to see each other. The distance could be worse, so I guess I should be grateful that either of us could jump into our car and drive for half a day if we felt like it.
I felt hopeful about this, despite training myself against doing that, especially so soon. This was the first time I’d opened up the opportunity for something real in a few years. Even though I was nervous, when I looked at him, I was overcome by a sense of calm.
Chapter 36
Travis
It was depressing that it was our last full day together, but I’d already determined that I wouldn’t be pathetic about it. When Tessa woke me up at five tomorrow, I’d be doing the same to him so that we had as much time together as possible. And I was going to take Roman to breakfast in the morning if he’d let me.
When I walked into the kitchen this morning, he was already up, and he’d even admitted that he was waiting for me to get out of bed, so at least I wasn’t the only one.
“Where do you think Sen and Kai will get married?” I asked.
He threw the baseball, better than he had the first time on the field. I could imagine him being really good when he was in high school.
“I don’t really know them,” he replied. “But they seem like the type of people who would choose somewhere classy. Not pretentious; just timeless.”
“Hm. I can see that. West will for sure get married on a football field.”
“Tilian will have a communal bong station and someone who passes out joints instead of a flower girl.”
I laughed, bending at the waist for a second. It was too easy to picture that. “Would you participate?”
“Maybe, just to be supportive. It’s not something I give a shit about.”
“Yeah, same.”
“If you smoked, you’d get fat from eating more tacos than you already do.”
“Fuck you,” I said before I threw the ball.
He whistled for Tessa to come over, then threw it across the yard for her. Tossing my glove to the ground, I jogged over to him. He watched me, half wary and half curious. His expressions had become a little more open during his time here, and I prided myself on my growing ability to read him.
“Do you dance?” I asked when I reached him.
He snorted and shook his head. “Not at all.”
His nose wrinkled when I held my hand out. I shook it and gave him an exasperated look. With a sigh, he took it and let me pull him closer.
“I’m sure this is premature,” I said as I put my other hand on the small of his back, “but maybe you’ll help me practice so that I don’t embarrass myself when the wedding rolls around.”
“Maybe you won’t have a date, in which case you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Thanks for that. If I don’t have a date, I can scope out all of the singles on the guest list. Knowing Sen, he’ll have a couple names to give me. He’s desperate to demolish my self-imposed bachelor status.”
“In the interest of Sen not setting you up, I’m gonna say no to helping you practice.”
“That’s rude. Unless you’re jealous of a hypothetical future man. I like that idea.”
He ducked his head, but I caught his smile. Not wanting him to hide it from me, I took his chin and tilted it up. Moving my fingers to cup the side of his jaw, I leaned in to kiss him.
“I might miss you when you leave tomorrow,” I said.
