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“We made it,” I declared after we’d given our order to the waiter.
“We made it?”
Nodding, I explained, “We got through our first physical separation.”
Understanding washed over him. “How did you manage?”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond, because I didn’t know how Griffin would react if I said how I truly felt. But as quickly as I had thoughts of not being honest, they were gone. I wasn’t the kind of girl who wasn’t straightforward about my feelings, especially in a relationship.
So, I was honest when I admitted, “I missed you a lot. I think I got so used to seeing you every day that there was a bit of an adjustment period.”
“Yeah, I have to agree. I didn’t think it would be so difficult.”
My eyes widened in shock. “You had a hard time being away from me?”
Griffin tipped his head to the side. “Why does that surprise you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re an adventure seeker. I guess I just assumed you would adjust quickly to the separation. In fact, I hadn’t expected you would be affected at all.”
He lifted a brow. “You think you’re that easy to be away from?”
Warmth flooded me, and a smile formed on my face. While I didn’t like that Griffin had struggled at all, it was nice to know he missed me at least as much as I missed him.
“I’m glad to know I was wrong,” I replied. “That said, I think it’s a good thing we’re starting this now.”
“Starting what?”
“Learning how to go for stretches of time without seeing each other. I mean, the way we got together was a bit of a unique situation. While I think it would make us both feel better to continue to make the effort to see each other every day, there’s a part of me that’s relieved we’re not.”
“You’re happy about not seeing each other every day?” he questioned me. It was easy to hear the edge of hurt in his tone.
I reached my hand out to his. After giving it a squeeze, I answered, “Of course not. But if we decide to stay together after you head back to Hawaii, we’re both going to need to be prepared for the time apart. It wasn’t easy to get through these past few days, but I understand how necessary it is for us to continue to put ourselves through these small stretches of absence, so we can prepare ourselves better for how it might be after your departure.”
Any of the hurt that might have been lingering when Griffin believed I was thrilled with being apart from him for any stretch of time had faded with my explanation. He flipped his hand over and squeezed mine in return. “We’ll figure it out. One way or another, if it’s important to the both of us, we’ll get through that, Indy.”
I inhaled deeply and allowed that promise to settle inside me. “I hope you’re right.”
Just then, our waiter returned with our dinner salads, interrupting our conversation. After he walked off, Griffin said, “I know it’s something we both have on our minds, but let’s try not to focus on me leaving this soon. I want to be able to enjoy as much of the time we have together as we can.”
I couldn’t say I disagreed with that sentiment. “I think that’s a great idea.”
From that point forward, Griffin made sure we did just that. He shifted the conversation to a discussion about my upcoming first day at my new job, and everything that followed afterward wasn’t anything that had us focusing on the upcoming months’ long separation. There’d be another time to deal with that. For now, we just needed the time to build a real relationship with one another.
We wound up having a lovely dinner together, and afterward, Griffin took me to his parents’ place, so I could meet them.
They were wonderful and welcoming. I adored his mom.
And that night, Griffin stayed with me at my place. I loved having him in my space again, giving us both something we’d been missing for a few days.
Though we spent quite a few hours together on Sunday, Griffin didn’t spend the night then. Since I had my first day of work starting on Monday, he wanted me to get a good night’s rest.
I missed him terribly from the moment he left early Sunday evening, but I was relieved by the time I crawled into bed that night.
Because I could still smell the scent of Griffin lingering on my sheets.
I only wondered how I might be able to bottle that scent up, so I could have it in a few months when he needed to get on a plane and head back to Hawaii.
EIGHTEEN
