Page 144 of My Favorite Hero

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

“Tear down walls and eat my way through the freezer.”

I had to smile. I had cooked for days, filling the fridge and freezer with food.

“I hope there’s lots of onion gravy in there.”

“Oodles.”

“Good.”

I sighed, and he pulled me back into his arms. “Go, baby. Before I change my mind and not let you leave.”

I loved the fact that he didn’t really want me to go either. But he knew how important this was to me, and he was putting me first. Something I would have to get used to.

“Don’t eat all the cookies at once.”

“I would never,” he said with a scowl. “I do have some control.”

“Not when it comes to cookies.”

He bent and kissed me. “Or you.”

“I have to go.”

“Yes. Text me when you land and when you get to the hotel.”

“Okay.” But I didn’t move.

He smiled. “The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back, Pix.”

“Are you just saying that because I reminded you there are cookies at home?”

He grinned and turned me around, pushing me gently toward the security checkpoint.

“Yes.”

JESSE

The station was quiet, everyone asleep. I still had problems sleeping without Casey now. It didn’t matter if I was at home or here. I liked her beside me, and I missed her warmth. Her scent.

I wandered out to the empty staff room, but no one else was awake. I sat down and lifted my phone, scrolling through pictures I had taken in the weeks before she left. Smiling, laughing, cooking, sleeping. Even crying, she was beautiful, her eyes saying so much.

I missed her so fiercely, I ached with it.

As if she sensed my thoughts, a text appeared.

You awake, Hulk?

I chuckled.

Yes.

How’s the shift going?

Quiet. I ran a lot of stairs in practice. My calves hurt.

If I were there, I’d rub them.