“You’re welcome,” I said drily.
“No. I’m being serious. Thank you.” He clenched his eyes shut. “It’s a douche thing to admit, but I’m glad you were…”
“Doing a good impression of a nun?” I mocked.
He pulled a face. “A sexy nun?”
“Doesn’t make it much better,” I replied, but I nuzzled my cheek into his hold to take the sting from my words.
Truth was, I was glad too.
And that was a little bit of the closure I’d needed since he left.
The attraction between us had never gone anywhere because it wasn’t supposed to.
It was supposed to stay a permanent fixture in both our live because, as Phoebe had once said in FRIENDS, he was my lobster.
And I was his.
Chapter 20
LAUREN
Tears poured down my cheeks three hours later as I drove back from his rental, having watched him drive off, the city his end destination.
I resented that he’d brought his car here. Knew I’d have had a few days longer with him if he’d just flown, but it was a stupid thing to resent. Still, I was feeling pretty stupid.
Watching him go, seeing those tail lights disappear into the distance...?
That had almost been as hard as seeing him leave that first time.
I had to remind myself that this wasn’t forever. I had to knock that into my thick skull.
He was coming back for me.
He was.
I just had to have faith.
The thought made me gnaw at my lip. I believed in him, had faith in him, but I was still uneasy.
I had a feeling I would be until he was back at my side or in my bed once more.
Which meant I had some gnarly days ahead of me.
Not even Coop knew when he’d be back, but he’d promised to call me every evening, and we already had established a ‘chat’ that I knew from the past would be a constant thread of communication between us.
As I pulled into my drive, I saw my mom’s car parked outside the house. I reached for my shit, palmed my phone, and couldn’t stop myself from sending him a text.
Missing you already.
Understatement of the year, and the man had only been gone twenty minutes.
Jesus. He’d not even left town yet.
Before I could bawl my eyes out even more than I already had done when I’d waved him off, I climbed out of the car.
When I did, I headed for the door and unlocked it. The scent of coffee filled my nostrils, as did the scents of bacon and pancake batter frying on the stove.