Page 168 of Made Better Together

Something to look forward to. Something I’m so excited about.

The hopeful expression on his face tells me he’s feeling the same way.

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry, Rosy, we’ll talk so much you won’t even notice.”

“I’ll notice something missing.”

He grunts, a hint of amusement.

“Before we press pause, though…” Reaching for the top button on his jeans, I peer up at him.

“One more time before you go? And make it count for the next three weeks?”

His broad smile gives me my answer.

48

EDEN

The first day of the “pause,” Connor texts me in the morning around my usual wake-up time.

CONNOR: Morning, Rosy.

EDEN: Good morning. How did you sleep?

CONNOR: [pic with his bedhead hair]

CONNOR: I guess alright, considering this mess.

EDEN: Lovely.

CONNOR: You have your last Art History lecture today?

EDEN: Yep, then the final paper is due next Friday.

My capstone project midyear report is already submitted, and my two other classes have exams. For Art History, we’re required to write an essay applying what we learned to an art piece of our choice, and I’m still working on it.

CONNOR: You got this.

EDEN:

EDEN: Okay, off to down some coffee.

CONNOR: Off to find a hairbrush.

EDEN: Good luck with that :) Talk later!

It’s honestly not too different from our days before, other than I know I’m not going to his place. Little texts sneak in during the day, here and there. At nine at night, we FaceTime.

“I was looking forward to seeing your beautiful face all day,” he says when I answer his call.

“How was practice?” It’s a Wednesday, so they must’ve started gearing up for the Sunday game in earnest. Also, I’m curious how things went with Dad.

Lying in bed, he straightens his glasses. “Long, but I did everything I needed to do. Your dad—he was normal. Not that we had any one-on-one time, but at practice, he was regular Coach Larsson.”

Hmmm. That’s good, but I still need to talk to Dad about his discussion with Connor.