“You’re good at caring about people,” she goes on, her voice amurmur.
“Likewho?”
“Likeme.”
I exhale heavily, my hands braced on the wall on either side of her head. “I told you Idon’t.”
“But you’ve shown me youdo.”
I pull back enough to look into her eyes brimming with empathy I’d never ask for but need like my nextbreath.
There are moments you look back on, ones that feel small but changeeverything.
I should step back, reinforce the distance betweenus.
Idon’t.
Instead, I wrap both arms around her, pull her closer. My fingers imprint themselves on the fabric of her jacket, the soft strands of herhair.
When I tuck her head under my chin, her breath hitches. I take a long inhale, wishing her scent didn’t calm me like it does. Even the layers of our uniforms can’t hide the warm comfort of herbody.
Her hands slide up my back until she’s holding me as hard as I’m holdingher.
I’m supposed to keep her out, but I don’t knowhow.
Leaving this summer will hurt likehell.
And I’m terrified by how much I want tostay.
11
“We’ll need a two-thousand deposit.Cash orcredit?”
I hold out a debit card. “How long will ittake?”
“A month. That’s the fastest service for anything custom,” he goes on at myexpression.
“Can you do a rush? It’s for a friend.” I debate, chewing my lip. “My dad is JaxJamieson.”
His eyes widen, and he glances at the name on my card, then back up. “No shit. I’d know those eyes anywhere. I made guitars for his firsttour.”
Discomfort works through me. “Do you keep intouch?”
“Some.”
Something tells me that even if my dad would be cool with giving Tyler a guitar, me buying him one wouldn’t go over great. “It’s asurprise.”
“For your daddy?” The manager’s brows rise as he looks at the order. “Seem to recall he prefers twenty-two—”
“Howlong?”
The manager frowns. “Fourdays.”
Apparently, there are perks to being Jax Jamieson’skid.
I thank him and head out to mycar.
The money for this purchase is coming from a statewide writing competition I won in the fall, plus the full-time hours I logged working as a summer student at the library lastyear.