Jenny turns to me. “Raffe, why don’t you grab your stuff and you can walk Lexie out.”
I laugh uncomfortably. Maybe I read all of this wrong. I thought Jenny was … fuck, I don’t know. I thought she felt the same way I do. Like I never want to be away from her. Not for a second.
Lexie and I follow her into the cabin as she scoops up my things and deposits them in my arms. I fall to the couch and slip my shirt over my head. “So, it’s okay to come back up in a day or two?”
“How about next Friday?” she says.
“That’s like six days away.”
“It’s just that I have so much to do. Fall is just around the corner.”
“I could help.”
She sighs. “Raffe, you have a life. I’m not going to pull you away from it. I’ll see you next Friday, okay?”
I stand up, turning away from her because I’m fucking super bummed. I won’t see her for an entire week.
Lexie shifts from foot to foot by the door.
Fine. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I never do.
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you then.” I start to walk away, but she reaches out and grabs my wrist.
When I turn to look at her, she rises to her toes and presses her lips to mine in a soft kiss. “I’m going to do my best to leave this place someday,” she says quietly after pulling away.
I tug on the braid in her hair, feeling a little better. “I know it’s going to take time.”
She nods with tears in her eyes. “I will miss you,” she says.
“I’ll miss you too, but we’ll see each other soon.”
I kiss her forehead, and when I walk away, I don’t look back. I can’t. If I do, I’ll never leave. I need to remind myself that she’s been isolated and alone for years. It’s going to take time. Sometimes time sucks.
I kick rocks all the way down the path, ignoring Lexie the entire way.
“I’ll see you at home,” she says sadly.
“Yeah,” I say, getting into my truck and starting it.
She pauses to hug herself but jumps into action the second she realizes I’m waiting for her to pull out in front of me.
I feel bad, but I don’t. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go.
Chapter Thirty-One
Lexie
Ifeel bad, but this is exactly how this was supposed to go.
Rachel was right when she told me he would fall hard and fast. It was painfully obvious how much it hurt Raffe to leave Jenny behind.
He parks beside me when we get to the warehouse but remains quiet as we walk across the parking lot together. When we get inside, we find Dirk tapping his lighter on the table impatiently.
“Was she there?” he asks, not bothering to look up from his drink.
“Was who there?” Raffe sits in the chair across from him, pushing an empty glass toward his friend.
Dirk fills it for him while staring at me. He’s waiting for an answer.
