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“So no phone calls?”
“You can always call me, Stripes. But if you call tonight, expect to hear some loud assholes.”
“I wouldn’t mind. I’m going to get to meet the loud assholes in person soon.” I heard the smile in her voice, and damn if it wasn’t contagious.
“Can I ask something of you?”
“Yeah, Jude. Ask anything.”
“I need to do this with you every day. Even if we have to make an appointment, I need to hear your voice. It grounds me, helps me get out of my ugly head.”
Another long pause. More sniffles, which had my eyes pricking with tears I barely held back.
“Of course. We should have planned this better, but now we know. To be honest, when I called the last couple days and didn’t hear back from you—” she cut herself off.
“What?”
“I thought maybe you were done with this,” she said quietly.
She might as well have stabbed me in the gut. She didn’t get it. Tali really didn’t understand the depth of my feelings for her. They weren’t the kind that just went away after a couple weeks apart. Hell, I doubted they’d fade after a coupledecadesapart.
“No, Tali. I’m never going to be done with us. You are my true north; I’ll always spin in your direction.Always. But I’m really fucking sorry I didn’t call you back and left you hanging with that feeling.”
Her exhale was heavy with relief.
“I love you, Jude. The three of us are calling tonight, so prepare the assholes.”
I laughed so hard, I had to brace my hand on my knee. “The assholes will be prepared. Love you, Stripes.”
* * *
I refusedto believe she was real. She had to be a mirage. A beautiful mirage in short shorts, Docs, and a band T-shirt.
Jin and I were walking back to the bus from lunch when I spotted her standing in the middle of all the assholes we bunked with. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to meet us tomorrow in Virginia.
“What state are we in?” I asked.
Jin pulled a face. “South Carolina, dude.”
I pointed toward the bus. “Am I seeing things?”
He turned to see where I was pointing. “If you’re seeing your girl, then no. Unless we’re both hallucinating the same thing.”
Cupping my hands over my mouth, I yelled, “Stripes!”
Her head jerked up, and she found me immediately. One second, she was by the bus, and the next, she was charging toward me, and a second after that, I had her in my arms, her legs around my waist. She felt like pure heaven and smelled like home.
I kissed her hard, my teeth cutting into my lips, but I didn’t care. I was a starving man and she was the only thing that would come close to sating my hunger.
She whimpered, and all her limbs tightened around me.
“Stripes,” I murmured into her mouth. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Surprise! I kind of couldn’t wait.” She kissed my cheeks and eyelids and nose before settling back on my mouth. “I’m not even barf-y.”
I laughed into another kiss, plunging my tongue into her mouth, gripping a handful of her ass. I might have fucked her right there if the assholes from my bus hadn’t started catcalling and cackling.
Reluctantly, I set Tali down, but still held her close, surveying her face. “You’re tan.” I traced my index finger down her nose. “And freckled.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “So beautiful.”
