Page 100 of Parentmoon

I step back, and he catches my hand but doesn’t pull me toward him. His eyes plead with me, but I take another step away. Then another, until I’m extending my arm, until we can’t hold onto one another any longer.

We slip apart and I turn toward the gate, scrambling to find my boarding pass on my phone. My hands tremble uncontrollably as I notice the battery is almost dead. Once I hold the device over the scanner, I glance in the direction where Dallas and I separated. He’s spun around. His back to the gate. Hands on the back of his head.

He loves me, he said.

I step through the gangway doors and walk down the bridge. The line of passengers is long and stationary.

He had a crush on me.

Shifting my bag on my shoulder, I step forward as the passenger before me moves. My heart races.

Heart open . . . and hoping.

How could he think he’s not enough? Dallas Cole is perfection in every way. He is attentive and compassionate. He is seductive while romantic. He is sweet and kind, and even cheesy but funny. He is hope and promise. He is lingering summer days as the autumn of my life draws near.

He came here for me.

I step forward once more as the line moves a few paces.

Tell me what you love about Keli, I’d asked Michael the night before his wedding. Tell me what she loves about you.

What did I love about Dallas? The question has me straightening my back and hiking my bag higher on my shoulder.

Because I do love Dallas. I love all of him. The slight immaturity and the complete seriousness when he says my name. His word as his honor and his body is a temple. The way he kisses me. The way he listens to me. The way he looks me in the eye when he touches me, worships me.

And he thinks he isn’t good enough.

“Oh God, what have I done?” I say aloud. The woman before me turns to face me. “He loves me,” I tell her, my voice rising. The tone strangled.

Your laugh was giddy, like a lover’s.

I cover my mouth as if I’ve been caught in the act. The act of touching Dallas, tasting him, bringing him into my body.

“I have to go,” I say to her, wild-eyed and suddenly breathing heavily. “I don’t want to go.”

I don’t want to leave him.

What the hell was I doing?

Turning around toward the gangway door, I brush past the remaining passengers, offering my apologies and excuse mes until I reach the doorway.

The attendant calls out to me as I rush through the opening. “Ma’am, you can’t exit once…”

Immediately, I search for Dallas, but I don’t see him.

“I forgot something,” I call over my shoulder, walking faster, then I’m nearly running, drawing attention to myself.

Who the hell runs through an airport in this day and age?

A woman about to take the biggest leap of her life, praying she hasn’t already made the biggest mistake.

Chapter 25

Dallas’s flight is scheduled for forty minutes after mine was set to depart. I had time, I told myself as I eventually slow my pace a hair, but still rush. I fumble through my bag. I need my phone again.

Finding it, I call Dallas, but it goes to voice mail.

I can’t tell him over the phone how I feel.