And she took off on Bucky, in the direction of my house.
This was definitely better than covering Joseph’s ass for the millionth time.
And this was definitely my favorite way to spend a day off.
thirty
. . .
Lulu
I wokeup feeling like the world was ending.
Yet it was the most exciting day of my life.
Was I sick?
I even tried playing the “Rocky” theme song on my phone while I showered in hopes that it would get me pumped up for my big day—that was a hard no.
I was in a slump.
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
You’re not sick. You’re moving to Paris. You’re living your best life.
Maybe it was the lack of sleep that had stolen the excitement from me. Rafe and I had stayed up most of the night having sex.
As if we were given a few hours to live, and we took advantage of every last second.
But neither of us were dying. We were just saying goodbye.
I’ve never minded goodbyes in the past. I had always loved moving on to new things. I’ve always been the first one to leave family functions.
But leaving Rosewood River. Leaving Rafe Chadwick.
It didn’t feel right.
Rafe came around the corner, holding my favorite periwinkle velvet scrunchie in his hand before setting it on the bathroom counter in front of me. “I don’t want you to forget this.”
He seemed perfectly fine this morning.
I was the one who was struggling.
Maybe he was happy to get back to his regular life. After all, this had started as a game.
Maybe he played along until the end.
I wasn’t thinking clearly. Last night, when we were having sex, I swear he was about to tell me that he loved me. It was the way that he looked at me. The way his fingers had intertwined with mine, and he held my stare. The way he started to speak and then stopped himself.
Maybe I was misreading everything.
“Oh, thanks. Are you packed up?” I asked, my tone quieter than usual.
“Yep,” he said, as he leaned in the doorway. “I’ll head home after I drop you at the airport.”
We agreed that he’d drop me at the airport, and we wouldn’t make it a big deal.
But it suddenly felt like a really big deal.
