Michael shrugged. “No. Not at all. He just got up, announced he was leaving, and left.”
Allison rubbed my back. “That’s all that happened?”
He nodded. “I swear, that’s all that happened. He didn’t even take his damn notebook. It’s still in the room.”
I swallowed hard. “But he takes that thing everywhere.”
He sighed. “Which is why you can bet your ass he’s coming back. He has to come back at least for that.”
But not for me.
I sighed. “You think he’ll want to talk once he gets back?”
Michael shrugged. “I don’t think you’re really in a position to dictate that.”
Allison interjected. “Michael, she’s been raked through the mud enough. Back off.”
He snickered. “I mean, I’m just saying. The man needs his space. I get that. He has enough on his mind right now, and that was before the party shit last night.”
I furrowed my brow. “What else does he have on his mind?”
Michael rolled his eyes. “If you really don’t know that, then you’re more removed than I thought you were.”
Allison scoffed. “Michael!”
He threw his hands up. “Well, it’s true!”
I shook my head. “Even if he does need time to think, he’s thinking the wrong things. I have to get him on the phone. Clint is the only rock I have and--”
Allison smacked her lips. “Rude. You have us.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know, I know. It’s not like that. That’s not what I mean. I just--Clint is different, you know? I mean, I’m your rock, but Michael is also your rock. And his rock is a different kind of rock.”
I looked over at Allison and watched her shrug.
“You have a point,” she said.
I sighed. “I mean, Clint is…”
The room fell silent as I wracked my brain for the right word. I wasn’t even sure there was a word to describe what Clint was to me. My brain felt muddled. My body felt as if it were trapped in a vat full of Jello. Suspended in mid-conversation, with no way out.
“Forever?” Michael asked.
His voice pulled me from my trance and I found him arching his eyebrows. Allison watched me carefully, waiting for me to confirm or deny. I let the word tumble around in my head. ‘Forever.’
Then a soft smile slid across my face.
“Yeah. I think so. Clint is forever. And I have to tell him that.”
Allison grinned. “He’ll come around. He has to, okay? We’re his ride home.”
That made Michael laugh. But I didn’t find it funny at all.
“He technically has the money to catch a cab,” I said flatly.
Michael shrugged. “Like I said, he left his notebook behind.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t really know how I feel about being second place to a notebook.”