“I know.”
“And you’re probably used to perfect-boyfriend Christian, who knows how to cook, pours you wine, and helps with the dishes.”
Carrie laughed and said, “Christian burns frozen pizza and hates wine. He might have opened a beer for me from time to time, but he was in no way a perfect boyfriend, Gage. And I’m not looking for a perfect anything. It’s not likeI’mperfect.”
“But you’re used to having someone. I’m not.”
“Then, maybe it’s good that we’ll be long-distance at first.”
“What? No, it’s not.”
“If you’re not used to having someone around all the time, maybe it’s good to start out like this – you’ll have some time to adjust.”
“Adjust to younotbeing around?”
“Adjust to us being on the phone or FaceTime every night and maybe some mornings. I don’t know how early you have to wake up to get to work, but I can get up earlier to talk to you or at least text for a few minutes if we can. Then, we can talk at night.”
“Until when?”
“What do you mean?”
“How long do we do that for?”
“I don’t know. However long we need to.”
“Carrie, you have a life where you are now. I can’t pack up and leave my company. I have employees and an office.”
“I know. I understand that most likely, if this works, I’d be the one who’d have to move.”
“Have to?”
“Moving is a pain in the ass, Gage. I’m not sure anyone actuallywantsto move.”
“So, you wouldn’twantto move if we get there?”
“I’d want to be with you, so I’d move, yeah. I think we’ll have this conversation at least a thousand more times before we’re ready for that, though.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t what?” Carrie asked.
“Bother.”
Carrie nodded once, and Gage watched her reaction after that. Carrie looked out the window. She looked down at the floor.
Then, she looked back up at Gage and said, “No.”
“No, what?”
“No, you’re not doing this,” Carrie stated.
“What am I doing?”
“Trying to push me away on our last day here. It’s not very nice, Gage.”
“I’m not pushing you away. You just said that you don’t want to move.”
“No, I said that moving is a pain in the ass, and no one likes it, but that I know it would be me moving.Whenwe get there, it would be me moving.”
