AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was mildly aware that they were in public, but she didn’t really care that they were kissing too hard to be family friendly. Almost no one was at the airport. So they were giving the TSA guys a little thrill, who cared?
She was wobbly on her feet when they pulled back, and Erin kept her hands on Cassie’s hips until she was steady. Erin grinned like she knew the effect she had. Cassie kissed her again, quick, to wipe it off her face.
“Thanks for bringing me to the airport,” she said, hefting her carry-on more securely over her shoulder.
“Have a good semester,” Erin said.
Cassie didn’t look back until she was through security. Erin was in the same place she’d left her. She gave a wave, and Cassie swallowed thickly before giving a brief nod and turning to go.
Cassie was eating dinner that night, settled in and comfortable in her apartment, when she got a text.
Erin [7:23 PM]
You got me sick
Cassie [7:24 PM]
I told you not to kiss me! It’s not my fault!
Cassie [7:24 PM]
I hope you feel better tho. At least it’s just like a 24 hour bug
Erin [7:25 PM]
It was worth it;)
Fourteen
ERIN
Even after five whole years of talking to Carolyn, Erin still felt like she should ask her therapist more about her own life, like she shouldn’t take up the entire hour talking about herself, which was literally what she was paying for. She always got over the impulse once she got on a roll, but she stumbled through the first few minutes of conversation.
“Did you have a good holiday?” Erin asked.
“I did, thank you,” Carolyn said. “How about you?”
Erin nodded. “It was nice.”
“Parker was home, right? Is she still there?”
“She is,” Erin said. “I’ve got her for another week.”
“How’s that going?”
“Great.” It was an instinctual response. Don’t admit weakness. Don’t let anyone know you’re not perfect. Erin took a breath and tried again. “Pretty good, for the most part. She brought a friend home for the first two weeks, which I was worried about, but I think it helped.”
“Why were you worried about it?”
Erin had never intentionally lied to her therapist before. It seemed like that defeated the point of therapy.
She was absolutely lying about this.
“I think I was afraid Parker would use her friend as an excuse to not interact with me? Which—I know that doesn’t make sense. We’re doing well. Better than we have been for a long time. We’re past her not interacting with me, I hope.”
Carolyn reaffirmed Erin, asked more questions, let her talk. It was a typical therapy session except for the way Erin avoided the thing she needed to talk about the most.
No, that wasn’t right. She didn’t need to talk to her therapist about Cassie. It was fine! It happened. It was fun. It was over.
