“You leave for Oregon soon to see Grace at nationals, right?”
“Yeah, in four days. We’ll fly back right when you’re returning I think.”
I lock eyes with him. “That’s convenient.”
“Isn’t it?” He raises a brow.
“We don’t have plans together until the Fourth,” I realize in real time. I’m pretty sure I’m frowning. “But let’s do something before that when we’re back. We can just tell Taylor whatever we decide then.”
“Definitely.”
I take the last sip of my coffee, glad we got that resolved.
But the sip is interrupted when his phone buzzes. It’s face up on his bed, and I turn my head to see who’s calling, as he steps towards the bed to do the same.
Oh? It’sStefani.Whose striking face and long blond hair appear from her photo in his phone contacts.
“Hmmm,” he remarks flatly, as he picks the phone up and dismisses the call. “I didn’t respond to her message last night. So she must be trying to check in or something.”
“Is that the same Stefani you told me about? You’re still in touch with her?”
He doesn’t owe me anything, but…I feel thrown off.
“Sort of, yes.” He looks at me like he’s trying to work up the courage to tell me something.Great.“I was supposed to visit her in New York this month, but I canceled it when…you and I happened.”
My heart feels compressed, even more so when my next questions escape my mouth.
“Do you still wish you could go? Do you miss her?”
He shakes his head vigorously. “No. Not at all. I’m glad…I like what you and I have going on. If that isn’t obvious.”
“Yeah.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened.” He has more conviction this time, and I start to calm down. Turning the phone back over, he sits next to me again.
“Good.” I let out a breath, and try to lighten the mood. “Because we’re stuck together awhile longer.”
“That we are.” Smiling, he opens up his arm for me to lie against him. “Come here.”
Cuddling during the daytime is not part of this deal, but I let myself indulge.
Friends hug, right?
He tightens his arm around me. “I promise I’m yours during all of this, and I won’t do anything to embarrass you.”
Bolstered by both the contact and his words, I force myself to release the rest of my anxiety.
He’s not shown one sign of betraying what you agreed to. He’s not like Topher. He doesn’t lie.
“Thanks.”
“You bet, Avie.”
There’s another moment of silence, Rawley still holding me, before he asks what I want for breakfast.
An hour later, having fed me about one hundred protein pancakes, he drops me off at Sarah’s to get on with my road trip packing duties.
When he parks the car, I can’t resist a last tease.
