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Seeing his effort warmed my heart tremendously. Then again, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Griffin had put in the effort from the start, and it had melted my heart every single time then, too.
“I can’t say I don’t understand what it’s like to feel so many conflicting emotions,” Griffin eventually replied. “Can you tell me what’s making you sad?”
“You.”
“Me?”
He seemed surprised by my response.
“You’re not actively making me feel sad, but I’m sad about you, about us having to say goodbye to each other now,” I clarified. “It hasn’t been quite two weeks of us being able to spend every day together, and that’s at an end now. I’m sad about it.”
His shoulders fell before he crossed the room to me. Griffin slid his arms around my waist and tugged me close. “I don’t want you to be sad. I won’t be able to leave you if I know you’re upset.”
I cocked an eyebrow and teased, “Maybe I don’t want you to leave me.”
A smile formed on his face. “You know what I mean.”
I returned the smile and nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
His eyes roamed over my face, and for a brief moment, it was clear he was lost in thought, like he was searching for the right words to say at a time like this.
While he kept one arm wrapped firmly around my waist, Griffin lifted his other hand to the side of my face. He pushed a lock of my hair back and tucked it behind my ear before he cupped my jaw. His thumb stroked along the skin there, and he finally spoke.
“I know it might not seem that way now, but this is going to be good for us,” he declared.
“Good? You think it’s good we won’t be able to see each other anymore?” I questioned him.
Griffin let out a laugh. “I’m not leaving permanently, Indy. I’m heading back down the mountain for a few days while you have time to yourself to get used to your new place and prepare for your first week at your new job. It’s Wednesday, and you’ve already agreed to allowing me to pick you up on Saturday, so I can take you out on a real date somewhere off the resort. We’ll have some time to miss each other between now and then. It’ll only make us appreciate our time together even more.”
I tipped my head to the side, pressing it deeper against his hand. “I already appreciate my time with you.”
His thumb came to my bottom lip and dragged along it, his eyes watching as it moved. His own lips twitched, and he replied, “I know you do, but this will make our time together even more special than it already is. I’m kind of excited about that, considering I didn’t think it’d be possible.”
Griffin seemed to be handling this so well. I wished I had half of the strength he did. Though, I guessed it was different for him. He had places to go, people he could visit with. I didn’t, and I knew I was struggling with letting him go, because I liked the way it felt to be with him and have that companionship.
Maybe that’s why I needed this.
Maybe that’s why it was critical for our relationship.
Perhaps I needed the time away from Griffin, so I could grow and get back to being me. I wanted things to work between us, and I realized that would only happen if we were together for the right reasons.
That wasn’t to say I was uncertain about Griffin or the man he was. He’d proven he was incredible on numerous occasions. I didn’t question him in that sense.
But if I was going to fall in love with him, it had to be about the way he made me feel and not the things he could save me from.
“Do you really believe this will make things better?” I asked.
He nodded. “I do. We’ll talk to each other frequently over the phone, and we’ll see each other every week instead of every day. We’ll build the solid foundation we’re going to need to live lives separate from one another this spring, summer, and early fall. If we don’t practice now, I think we’ll be setting ourselves up for disaster when I do have to head back to Hawaii.”
I didn’t even want to think about that day. It felt so far away, even though I knew it would be here well before I was ready for it.
Nodding, I squeezed my arms tightly around him, pressed my cheek against his chest, and said, “I trust you.”
He held me back just as fiercely.
We stayed like that for a long time before Griffin gave my hair a gentle tug. I tipped my chin up to look at him and quickly learned no words needed to be spoken.
Griffin’s mouth was descending on mine.
