Page 84 of All Autumn
He sighed. “Listen. Can you honestly say that Autumn’s it for you? I’m talking about a lifetime here.”
I thought about it for all of three seconds. “Yeah, I can totally see a lifetime with her.” I looked at my brother in amazement. “I never thought I’d say that about any woman.”
“Then send the text. Give her something to think about.”
“Maybe I’ll send it later.” I needed to think about it first. A text like that might have the opposite effect than I wanted, like sending her running away even faster if Adam was wrong and she wasn’t in love with me.
43
~ Autumn ~
“Stop staringat your phone and call him, Autumn.”
Poor Jenn. I was spending the night at her house since we had to leave for the Asheville airport early in the morning to catch our flight to New York. We’d closed ourselves up in her guest room, leaving Dylan to fend for himself, even though she was leaving for two days. He’d been cool about it, though.
“I will after we see Savannah.” Connor had been so cold and angry with me this morning. I couldn’t blame him. Between the flowers and note and what I’d said before he drove off, I’d as much as told him to get lost. I’d messed up with him so badly, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
We sat cross-legged on the bed, a pizza between us, and we each had a glass of wine. Jenn picked up a second slice, taking a bite off the cheesy end. I was more interested in my wine.
“Not all men are like Brian or your father.”
“I know Dylan’s not. Can I have him?”
“No, you cannot have my husband.” She pointed at the box. “Eat. You’re going to be on a plane in the morning, and you don’t want to be hungover.”
I picked up a slice, nibbling on the crust. “When did you know you were in love with Dylan?”
“I kind of knew it before I left for Greece, but I refused to admit it. It really sank in when I stood on the beach in a country on the other side of the world from him and missed him so hard that it hurt to breathe.” She looked at me with understanding in her eyes. “It hurts to breathe, doesn’t it?”
Tears stung my eyes. “So much.”
“Oh, hon, call him.”
I shook my head. “Not now, okay?” And then the tears I couldn’t hold back streamed down my face. “I . . . I just can’t.”
She pushed the pizza box aside, took my empty glass of wine from me, setting both our glasses on the end table, and then wrapped her arms around me while I cried my heart out.
“He’s not a forever man,” I said minutes later when I could speak again. “We agreed from the beginning that we were in it for the fun. I thought I meant that at the time.”
“Things change, Autumn. He might have changed right along with you.”
I snorted. “Where women are concerned, Connor has the attention span of a goldfish. Can you even count how many women you’ve seen him with?”
“And who has he stayed with the longest?” When I didn’t answer, she said, “He’s rarely seen the same woman more than two or three times, but he’s different around you.” She put her hand on my arm. “You and Connor have always had a special connection. Remember in fifth grade when he gave Billy Adams a bloody nose for trying to kiss you?”
I grinned. “And I was mad at Conner because I wanted to be the one to bloody Billy’s nose.”
“And what did Connor do?”
Tears filled my eyes again. “He apologized for not letting me throw the punch, then said I could bloody his nose if it would make me feel better.”
“A boy doesn’t offer something like that unless the girl is special to him. Savannah once said that she half expected you and Connor to end up together, and honestly, the more I think about it, the more I can see it. You two have been in love with each other since you were in pigtails. You’ve both just been too blind to see it.”
“I never wore pigtails,” I grumbled. Was she right, though? I mean, I loved Adam right along with Jenn, Natalie, and Savannah. But Connor had always been a little more special. I’d just never put it into words before, forcing me to admit it.
“You’re the one hiding. If you’d stuck around, Connor might have surprised you.” She glanced at the clock. “We need to get some sleep.” She pushed off the bed. “I’ll wake you up in the morning.” At the door she paused. “You really should talk to him before you accept that it’s over between you.”
Alone, I opened the screen on my phone, bringing up his name. After staring at it for a long time, I put it away. I wasn’t ready to have it confirmed that Connor and I were honest-to-God over.
