Page 116 of Fluke
“I’d like to think so too. But …” I pause. “Maybe even assholes have their purpose, you know? If it weren’t for him getting that reaction out of me, I wouldn’t have been at Shade House to vent to Kerissa that day.”
“True.”
“And if you take it one step farther—if my parents hadn’t written me off, I probably would’ve had more support and would’ve been able to afford an apartment in Lakely. So their jerkishness in a long, roundabout way, moved me to Kismet Beach.”
“Nope. They get absolutely no credit for this.”
I laugh. “What are you thinking about?”
He moves my arm and then rolls onto his side to face me. Sleepy, relaxed Jess is my favorite Jess.
His hair is mussed up and his eyes soft. He’s thoughtful and pensive, gentle and sweet.
I press a simple kiss against his lips.
“You want to know what I’m thinking?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“I’m thinking about tomorrow.”
My stomach twists. “What about it?”
“How am I supposed to go from this—having you to myself, getting to hold you whenever I want—to having to set up an appointment to see you?”
“An appointment? My schedule isn’t that full.”
“You know what I mean.”
I do. I’ve been wondering that too.
“It’s like being given the best treat in the world and then having it taken away, isn’t it?” I ask softly.
He grins.
“We’ll make it work,” I say. “We live in the same town. We both work all day. So we’ll just text each other on the way home from the office and see if we can meet up. Or we can put a rule on it—at least four dinners together a week.”
His brows pull together. “What about breakfasts?”
“I’m sure we’ll be together most weekends.”
“What about when we brush our teeth together?”
I laugh.
“What about this—talking about shit in the middle of the night? Or walking by a room and seeing you sitting in there and getting to smile at you just so you know I’m thinking about you?”
I cup his cheek in my hand. “Why are you so thoughtful?”
“Because I don’t want to go back to the way it was.”
“I … I don’t know what you mean.”
But I think I do.
“Look, I’ve spent the last thirty years without you. And it’s been great—I’ve had a great life. It was fine. But now I know what my life can be. What it should be. And nothing is going to make sense again without you.”
My eyes burn with unshed tears.This man is going to kill me.
