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“Okay,” I agreed. She had confided nothing else about Leon. On the night of her party, they'd both disappeared upstairs—information I’d gleaned from Danny—and were no doubt interrupted by the noise from mine and Reno’s showdown. Liss had remained steadfastly tight-lipped every time I’d asked her, insisting nothing had happened, and nothing would happen. Despite my protests, whatever had been going on had ended. I’d asked if it was because of me. She’d said no, but I wasn’t so sure.
Liss had been a rock. Someone I could always depend on. She would be my friend until the day I died; I was sure of that. But tomorrow, we were going our separate ways. Me to Georgia, and Liss to Florida. It wasn't the biggest of distances, but for the past nine years, she’d never been more than a five-minute drive away, and I knew I would miss her like crazy.
The next couple of hours passed in a blur of laughter, tears, reminiscing, and eating our weight in junk food. I tugged closed the zipper on the last case and leaned back on my knees, hands dropping flat onto my thighs.
Liss reached out a hand and snagged my ponytail, giving it a little tug. “Is that you all packed?”
I nodded, lips pressed into a flat line. “And you’re all set, yeah?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady.
Her blue eyes welled. Shaking her head with a groan, she nodded and swiped at her cheeks. “Yep. You know me, no fuss!”
I laughed through my tears. And then smothered her to near death. “I love you, Lissy.”
Her head bobbed. “You too, amigo.” She pulled back, lashes wet. “Man, I’m gonna miss the shit out of you!”
We both cracked up. “Same.”
My mom hugged me as we waved and hollered our goodbyes until Liss' tail lights disappeared out of sight.
As I stood, arms wrapped around my body with my back to the other side of the park, my head and heart were at loggerheads. One trying to force me inside, the other trying to force my gaze behind me. My head won out, and I inhaled through my nose as I moved through the door, closing it with a gentle thud and placing my forehead onto it.
But thoughts of him kept me awake, pain blooming in the hollow space behind my ribs, and moisture collecting in the corners of my eyes. Even if I couldn’t speak to him when I was here, I knew where to find him. I knew he was close by. After tomorrow, I didn’t know how long it would be before I saw him again. Shifting to my side, I squeezed my knees up, tugging them into my chest. A few seconds later, I reached under my pillow and slid the sweater from beneath it. With his scent pressed to my face, the soft fabric bunched under my cheek, my lids slid closed.
“This must be the last of it,” my mom huffed, between pants, as she hefted an overloaded case to the trunk of her car. My car now. The same one that I planned to drive three hours in today and hopefully not die. We both struggled to lift the case up, my mom’s inappropriate footwear not helping matters.
“Here... let me.”
His deep voice floated over me like a caress, but every muscle in my body tensed, quickly jumping to high alert. My mom’s head craned back, wide eyes staring over my shoulder. I felt his presence like an extension of myself, but I didn’t turn.
Leaning around me, his fingers wrapped around the handle. My eyes zeroed in on his forearm, to the muscle flexing and popping as he lifted the case with ease, before they dipped to his sneakers and stayed there.
My mom wiped her palms on her thighs then shuffled backward. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
The breath that had wedged somewhere in my throat filtered out slowly through pursed lips, and my heart rate escalated to dangerous levels, each heavy thud shaking my entire body.
“Hey,” he said.
Turning hesitantly, I kept my head lowered until the last possible second. When I looked up, the impact was reminiscent of a mack truck slamming into my chest. I jerked backward, catching myself before I stumbled. Trying to regain my composure as best as I could, I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and rubbed my hands up and down my arms.
“Hi,” I whispered.
His eyes sought mine, forging a connection I immediately knew I was unprepared for. They were too intense, too open... and I felt too exposed. I shifted my gaze to rest just to the side of his head. I saw him frown. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he rolled back on his heels a little, dropping back down with a subtle thud.
His head tipped toward the car. “You all packed?”
I couldn’t look directly at him, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away either. Gnawing on my lip, my hands tight around my sides, I nodded.
He did the same, a few slow bobs with his head dipped. Bringing it up again, he asked, “When do you leave?”
Glancing away, I inhaled a heavy breath and willed my erratic heart to settle. I turned back to him, my brows low and my eyes squinted against the morning sunshine.
“About ten minutes.”
Emotions registered on his face like waves crashing against the shore, ebbing and flowing, shifting and changing. He was quiet. So quiet it felt like the silence might suffocate me. My foot tapped, stomach churning. Standing here with him, like this, with the past swirling around us, was overwhelming. I couldn’t stop my body from trembling.
“Was there something else you needed, Ren?”
His head came up. “No. Just came to say goodbye, Ri.”
