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Bolt stood from the kitchen table. “I better get over there.”
Faith reached on her toes to hug him. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. I think I might need more than that.”
“I’ve never seen you like this. I want to meet this girl one day. That is if you can get her back.”
Bolt smiled. “You mean, when I get her back.” He jogged down the front steps and waved as he pulled out of the driveway.
Twenty-Four
Skye looked out of the window. She wished it would just rain for once. It barely rained three times a year. She wanted dreary, miserable, bury-yourself-under-the-covers weather because that’s how she felt.
They had crossed over some great divide last night, only for her to realize Ben was going to blow up the bridge all along. He was never serious about her, about them. She threw a pillow across the room. He got what he wanted. She bit the inside of her cheek when she felt the tears well and brim on the edge of her lids. Crying over Ben wasn’t going to happen.
She dumped her overnight bag on the bed and pulled the lingerie from the pile. She stormed in the bathroom and tossed it in the trash. She never wanted to see that dirty reminder of what she had done last night.
Her hands ran over her swollen lips, plump from Ben’s rough and passionate kisses. Kisses that made her toes curl, her body arch, and her mouth scream for more. Dammit. She gathered up the rest of the clothes and marched to the washing machine where she set the water to the hottest temperature. Maybe scorching them would wash out the memories.
Really? Japan. She watched the water fill inside the cylinder. Who goes to the other side of the world without telling the girl they’re dating? She kicked the side of the washer then huffed her way to the kitchen. The only thing on her refrigerator shelves were the leftovers from the dinner her mother made with him. She picked up the plastic container and threw it in the trash, lid and all.
She refused to turn to chocolate and wine, but she needed food. She had barely eaten two bites of pancakes at breakfast. She grabbed her keys, slung her purse on her shoulder, and opened the door.
She stopped. Ben was standing on her doorstep.
“Hey. Can we talk?” The forlorn puppy look almost got her.
Her heart jumped to her throat. “I don’t think so. I was headed out.” She gripped the strap on her purse.
“Five minutes. Please.” His eyes motioned to the space over her shoulder, but she wasn’t going to let him in the apartment. “Ok, I can say it here.” He sighed. “I should have told you about WESTPAC. I should have said it that first week, so you would know I was leaving for six months. You have to believe that I wasn’t thinking about it. I wasn’t trying to deceive you. I swear I didn’t think it mattered. I didn’t know we would be here.” His eyes locked on hers. “I didn’t know I would be here.”
Skye leaned against the door. “And where is here?”
She had never seen him like this. His face almost pale, his eyes wide, his expression panicked. “It’s hard for me to say things like this. I’ve never said them before.” He stared at the floor before lifting his chin again. “Skye, I need you.”
The words hit her. Three words that were the most beautiful, sunset-filled, jump-over-the-moon, swim-through-a-waterfall, and roll-with-delicious-laughter words. She didn’t understand how she could feel as if her feet would lift from the floor and at the same time be ready to punch him in his perfectly shaped nose. She wasn’t ready to let him back in.
“I don’t know what to say to you right now. I’m angry. I feel like you used me.”
“I get that. I do. But would I be standing here right now if I just wanted one night with you? I’m here because this means something to me. You mean something to me, Skye. And I screwed up. I don’t know where to go from here, but please tell me we can get past it.”
His words settled on her, soaking through her skin like long rays from an early morning sun. She didn’t rush an answer. She had to know that what she was getting ready to say was the truth. That without a doubt she could say it and stand behind what she needed to tell him.
“If I say e
verything is ok, how do I know there aren’t other things like this that you’ll keep from me? You’re going to be gone for six long months. What are we supposed to do? Send emails? How does that even work?” She shook her head. “I let you in again. I gave you everything I had and you’re leaving?”
“This is going to sound shitty, but I’m a pilot. I’m always going to be leaving. I thought maybe you were ok with that part of my life. I never kept my job a secret.”
“I guess I hadn’t thought about it yet.” She let the bag fall from her shoulder and walked into the apartment. Ben followed her.
“It’s a lot to figure out and I’ve never done it before, but I want to try it with you.” He sat next to her on the couch.
“What do I do? Wait for you for six months? That’s crazy.” Skye thought she heard echoes of Kari’s sad tale about the friend whose boyfriend cheated on her in Japan. What if that was next? What if this ridiculously hot womanizing man was about to bed every woman on the Asian continent and forget she even existed?
“It is crazy. It’s completely crazy. And I can’t ask you to do that. But, just say I can call you, that we can write, that I can think about you when I’m flying.”
After last night, she knew her heart. All the things he said were the same things she had been feeling.
