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She has every right to need time, every right to her hesitation to be with me. It wasn’t even my goal when I stole her away. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
I swore I’d have no expectations with the letter I gave Nova. I wanted nothing more than to save her from a marriage she’d soon regret. But New Orleans only reminded me why I was falling for her on our road trip across the United States. It only solidified the crushing realization that Nova could be my one, and there’s nothing I can do to keep her. I have to set her free because she isn’t mine.
And she might never be.
When the wheels touch down in Vermont, the haze of our timeout from life in Louisiana wears off. We’re back to the real world. And the tense set of Nova’s shoulders as she peers out the airplane window is only a reminder of what she’s returning to, the consequences she’ll have to face. If it wouldn’t make matters worse, I’d be right alongside her, giving that jackass a piece of my mind. That is, if he bothered to stay in Vermont and wait for her return. For her sake, I hope he’s long gone.
She’s kept his name out of our conversations, but I can’t help looking over her shoulder as she turns her phone off airplane mode for the first time in four days. Nova pulls up their text thread while we taxi to our gate. Anders has been relentless since their last phone call. From losing it on her with every expletive in the book to pleading for forgiveness and begging to make their relationship work, her phone is flooded with messages. Without replying, Nova shuts off her screen.
As we walk through the hectic terminal, I can’t help interlocking my fingers through hers, keeping Nova close. I squeeze, and she squeezes back, but her gaze remains forward. The worrying of her bottom lip incites a need to press my mouth to hers. Though it’s painful, I refrain. I chew through a pack of gum instead. Anxious.
Every step is one step closer to parting ways. Would Nova notice if we made a detour, driving the long way to her house so I can keep her a while longer? She’s been mine for four days, and I’m not ready to share her with everyone else.
Nova tugs me to a stop when we pass through the automatic doors into the brisk New England air. “I think I’m going to get a rideshare. Alone.”
My heart sinks. “Why?”
Her forlorn eyes stray to the passing traffic picking up passengers. “It’s probably easiest if we say goodbye here, don’t you think?”
Here. On the curb of a busy international airport with the eyes and ears of every passerby.
Goodbye?“I’m going to be in town for the next week. Can we grab dinner one night?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I can’t conceal how her words tear a jagged gash through the muscles of my heart. “If that’s what you want.”
Showing up at home with the man who convinced her to leave the groom at the altar might not be the best form.
Nova shifts, her duffle falling from her shoulder. “I want a lot of things, Devin, but saying goodbye to you isn’t one of them. This is just how it needs to be.”
My brain understands, but every other organ rejects the logic, twisting and knotting without reprieve.
What I need is to shove my feelings down because this isn’t about me. None of this was ever about me. Okay, that’s a partial lie. Even if Anders was a decent guy, I wouldn’t have wanted her to marry him. I might not have shown up with a letter convincing her to leave her fiancé, but I wouldn’t have been able to watch her walk down the aisle. So, yeah. Protecting Nova’s happiness was a selfish move because it meant giving me a chance, no matter how slim.
I step into Nova and grasp a strand of her blonde hair flying in the wind, looping it behind her ear. “Figure out what you want, Nova, and be the badass I know you are. Show the world how Nova Pratt gets things done. You’re gonna go places.”
With a choked-up chuckle, she nods. “And you go prove you deserve a spot in the limelight. You’re going to blow the big leaguers away. I just know it.”
This is it. This is really it. “Why can’t we seem to get this right?”
A hint of a somber smile graces her lips. “Because life doesn’t always give us a choice, but maybe we’ll get it right next time.”
Next time. Whenever that may be. If it ever will be. If our track record has anything to say, it won’t be for another couple of years.
“Well, this has been one hell of a ride, Spitfire.”
Wetness glistens in her eyes as she tries to hold her tremulous smile. “This is the first time we’ve ever said goodbye.”
My arms curve around her waist, tugging Nova against me, and her hands loop around my neck. I want it to be the last. “Let’s not make it a habit, all right?”
With a nod, tears trickle down her cheeks. “I owe you one, Hotshot. Thanks for being my getaway car.”
“Just returning the favor.” I lean my forehead against hers, kissing away the rivers. And then her chin tips up, meeting my lips. In this kiss I lose a part of myself, one I’ll never recover. There’s no way of knowing if this will be the last, but one thing I know for sure is every kiss between us before this was different. There was possibility and excitement, even desperation to escape. But this one is brimming with turmoil and breaking hearts, frantically clinging to every last graze and crushing of lips.
Nova detonates something in me that I once felt incapable of. Addictive, raw emotions I’ll never reach the depths of. My heart cries with need, and I give into the call. Hands clasping her jaw, I take and take. If this is all I’ll get from her, I want to leave my mark. I want my imprint on her soul the way she is on mine.
A breathy gasp breaks free from Nova’s lips as she detaches from our kiss and takes a step back. The loss of her heat against me is instant, like a severed limb, unbearable.
