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You know, I really think I could come to love this man.
I might already be pretty close.
* * *
I hatethat I’m about to cry.
I hate that Finn can tell I’m about to cry.
We’re standing outside his hotel and there’s a black cab waiting for me. Once I get into it, that’ll be it for us.
We spent the entirety of Saturday night together, pretending like his flight back to New York wasn’t looming over us. But we can’t pretend anymore. His flight is in a few hours and this is it.
I blink back the tears threatening to spill over. It’s really not fair.
“I’ll be back soon, Amber,” he murmurs, and the only solace I can take from all this is that he looks just as miserable as I feel.
“Not soon enough.” And it’s true. With his busy schedule once he gets back to New York there’s no telling when he’ll next be able to come back to London. We both know it, even if we won’t say it out loud.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, sweetheart,” he says, cracking a weak smile. “Trust me. Give it a week and you’ll be tired of seeing my name blowing up your phone.”
I laugh at the irony of it all. I can’t imagine the Amber of three months ago wanting nothing more than to see Finn Hawthorne’s name at the top of her call list. “Never. Call me anytime.”
“I will.” He steps forward and pulls me into a tight hug. “Thank you, Amber.”
“What’re you thanking me for?” I’m glad my face is buried in his shirt, because the tears have finally started to fall.
“Everything.” He pulls back, brows furrowing as he spots the tears sliding down my cheeks. He brings a thumb up and wipes them away. “You’ve made me a better man, honestly. More thoughtful. Considerate. Trusting. And my life is infinitely brighter with you in it.”
But I’m not going to be in for much longer, am I? “Stop. This is the kind of thing you say to someone you don’t plan on ever seeing again.”
“Fine,” he says. “Then I’ll just say this. I’m going to miss you, sweetheart.” He pulls me in for a deep, long kiss, and it’s most definitely the kind of kiss you share with someone when you know without a shadow of a doubt that this is it. This is the last time you’re going to see each other.
When we break apart, I’m pretty sure there are tears in his eyes too.
* * *
“Wow.”
“Mhm.”
Bailey shoves a handful of popcorn into her mouth and chews thoughtfully. “But what if he’sThe One?”
We’re sprawled across my living room, sitting on the beanbags I swiped from The August Room on my last day since the sofas I ordered still haven’t arrived. Bailey is sitting on my one, and I’m on Finn’s. It still smells like him, which is maybe a tiny bit creepy, but I can’t bring myself to care.
“There are three thousand, four hundred and ninety-one miles between us right now,” I say with a scowl. “So if he’sThe One, then someone up there is playing a very horrible trick on me.”
“Should I be worried that you apparently know that number off the top of your head?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” I groan and sink into my beanbag. “It’s just not fair. Whether he’sThe Oneor not, there was definitely something there. Would’ve been nice to see where it could’ve gone.”
“I’m sorry, babe.” She slides across the floor with her beanbag and gives me a one-armed cuddle. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. Have you spoken since he left?”
I nod. “Every day, actually.” It’s been a week since he left London and I’ve woken up to agood morning sweethearttext — sent before he goes to bed — every day and gone to sleep after a short FaceTime call with him most nights.
“Did you guys ever talk about trying long distance?” Bailey asks. “I know it’s not easy, but it might be worth it for the right person.”
I shake my head. “We never spoke about it, and I didn’t want to bring it up. We only knew each other for three months, and we didn’t really start having any kind of relationship until at least the halfway point. I felt like it was maybe too new to ask him to commit to me like that.”
