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I nod. “He will be home tomorrow, all going well.”
“That’s great news.”
“How long are you gonna stay mad at your Mom?” I ask him, since he brushed it off pretty quickly.
He sighs and looks down, his face dropping for a moment. “As long as it takes for me to simmer,” he says. “I got pretty mad with her, can you really blame me?” He shakes his head. “Anyway, we kinda got in a fight, and in the end, I said some things...”
“Because of me?”She sighs.
“No.” He shakes his head. “It’s because of what she did, and other things she kept from me. I don’t think she realizes sometimes that I have a right to be upset about it.”
It’s not good to hear he’s fighting with his mom, especially when she’s not well and going for those brain scans. “You only have one Mom,” I remind him. “And sometimes they do things that they may not ordinarily do because they’re trying to protect their child. I don’t think she honestly thought I’d go through with it.”
“But she planted the seed there and that was wrong,” he says, watching me. “It was so fucking hard without you, Em. I hated it. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten used to it.”
“Me either.” I shrug my shoulders up, because that is the truth of it. “It was real back then, wasn’t it?” I ask him as we look out to the skyline.
“Yes, it was,” he says. “It’s not something you find every day.”
“And now?” I ask him. I know I’m throwing it out there, but what happened between us has come on thick and fast. I need to know if it was a one-time thing or not.
“Do you think we still got it?” he asks.
I sip my wine and smile into it. “Is that a trick question?”
“Not at all.”
“Judging by yesterday's events, I’d say, yeah, we do.”
He laughs. The sound is perfect and sweet. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen, just so you know.”
“Me either.”
“Where does that leave us?” he asks.
“I’m here for two more weeks,” I say. “I mean, what do you want to happen? Have you even had time to process it all?”
“I know I need to play out the finals and bring my best, and I’d like you to be there.”
I smile. It brings warmth to my heart knowing he wants me to be here with him for one of the most important times of his life.
“I’ll be here,” I tell him. “At least some of the games are in Seattle.”
“Yeah, I got a bit of back-and-forth to do before you leave.”
I don’t even want to think about that right now. Leaving my parents and now Taylor suddenly seems impossible. Maybe I’m jumping the gun a little with him, but I can’t help the way I feel. It’s always been him, as much as I’ve tried to deny it over the years.
“We’ll see each other, work something out,” I say. I hope to God that’s true.
We drink our wine and stargaze until I stifle a yawn and Taylor says we should get in before I fall asleep out here.
“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Maddison?” Taylor asks as we walk back down into the apartment. “’Cause I sure as hell haven’t heard from Ashton since yesterday.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Funnily enough, she’s been pretty quiet today too. I take it you know they went out again.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured. They seemed to be getting along,” he muses. “Might have to watch those two.”
“I think they’re probably saying the same about us.” I laugh.
