She leans down to kiss me. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mere.”
She smiles and then she’s gone. I’m tempted to find the box to see what she ordered, but decide not to. She didn’t want me to know, so I won’t snoop.
Marc arrives about thirty minutes later and he starts up my gaming console, handing me a controller. I glare at him, as usual, when he props his feet up on my coffee table. At least he’s learned to remove his shoes first.
“How’s it going with your hot girlfriend?”
“Fine.”
He looks at me. “Fine? That’s the kind of answer you use when someone asks how you are and you aren’t okay, but you don’t want to talk about it, so you say you’re fine. You’re finally with the girl you’ve been wanting for fucking ever and all you can say is things are fine? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I snap. “Things have been great so far. She’s here; we’re happy.”
“Who knew people could pick up where they left off so easily after what, eight years? Damn, that’s a long time.” When I glare at him, he shrugs. “Fine. I’ll leave it alone. You taking her to Mike’s BBQ?”
We have a day off next weekend, and head coach Darrell Michaelson, who we call Mike, has invited the entire team to his house for a get-together.
“If she wants to go, yeah.”
“Why wouldn’t she want to go?”
I groan. “Shut the hell up and play the damn game. I didn’t mean she wouldn’t want to; I haven’t said anything about it to her yet is all I meant.”
Marc whistles. “For someone who’s finally happy, you sure are pissy.”
The only way to get him to stop talking about it is to ignore him. I don’t know what’s caused my mood to sour, or if it has anything to do with how I’m a little antsy about her leaving this weekend regardless of all the logic in the world, but I do know I don’t want to talk about it.
“I’m coming back,” I wheeze, barely able to breathe through Noah’s hold on me.
“I know.” He loosens his hold and I wonder if he thinks I’m lying. He didn’t obsess over me this much when he left earlier this week for games. He leans down for yet another long, slow, deep kiss. If it weren’t for his odd behavior putting me on edge, I’d be too lost in his kiss to pay attention to the time.
“I’m going to miss my flight, Noah,” I tell him, breaking the kiss.
He gives me one more quick kiss and releases me. “Let me know when you get there and tell your parents I said hey.”
“I will.”
“And you’ll be here when I get home Sunday?”
“Yep.”
Noah nods to himself, kisses me one more time, and then I’m finally able to leave. His hovering as I finished up my packing this morning and then our twenty-minute goodbye has me anxious. I get to the airport without any problems. Noah has texted me, wishing me a safe flight. I text him back before texting my mom.
Me: Flight lands at 11:30. Are
you still picking me up?
Mom: Sorry, my doctor’s appointment today was changed. Dad is picking you up, but I’ll come over to help you afterward
Me: Okay, thanks.
With nothing to do but wait, my mind gets lost in analyzing my time in Raleigh so far. It’s unbelievable to think Noah and I are together again. He welcomed me back with open arms. Things have been really good so far, I think. This is the first time we’ve ever lived together, but we haven’t annoyed each other with any quirks yet. Again, this has been seamless. Well, aside from Noah freaking out when I told him I was coming home for the weekend.
Work has been good. Mostly because Erica has avoided me as much as possible. She won’t be able to for long because yesterday was Gail’s last day. I’m not sure how things will be next week when it’s just the two of us.
Life seems to be settling into place. I have a job I love, and I’m with a man I love. What more do I need? That answer swiftly enters my mind. I need for PT to progress at a faster rate and for my shoulder to heal. Then again, I love my current job so much that I’m wondering if I should try to return to the game or not. Is it sad that the main reason I want to retire is so that it means I’ll never run into Vance again?