“Princess, damsel, it doesn’t matter. Just know I’m going to treat you like a queen,” I tell her.
She laughs.
“I think I like this romantic side of you.”
I laugh before pulling her into my arms. The hug is so much more than that.
“I’ll miss you,” I whisper against her hair.
“I’ll miss you more.”
After one last kiss, I’m forced to walk away from the woman that came into my life and rocked my entire world. She did it in the best way possible, and now I can’t imagine life without her.
Chapter 10
(Audra)
______
TWO WEEKS LATER.
I did it.
I spent a whole month away from work. Even though half of it was spent fighting for my life and the other half was spent missing and falling in love with a man. The point is, I feel energized and refreshed and ready to go back to being the badass female I know is inside me somewhere.
But before that, I’m going to spend the entire weekend with my boyfriend because I missed him a lot.
He’s waiting to pick me up at the airport. I run into his arms, not caring how it looks. He smells like pine needles and men’s Cologne. There’s a bit of stubble on his chin, but it only makes him look sexier.
“Hey, babe," I greet.
He raises an eyebrow.
“What happened to your hatred of generic nicknames?” he questions.
“I thought about it, and it makes me seem pretentious. Plus, it sounds really good when I’m talking about you.”
He chuckles.
“Okay then...how was your trip? And how’s Greg?”
He pronounces my friend’s name with barely concealed distaste.
I have to smile. It’s cute that he gets jealous over my relationship with Greg, but we’re really just friends. I probably won’t see him again for a few years, but it was nice to catch up.
“Greg is great. He got himself a girlfriend, actually.”
As expected, Ethan beams at the news.
“I’m happy for him.”
I almost roll my eyes. “Of course you are.”
“I found Capa's family,” I tell him as he leads me to his rented car.
He doesn’t live in New York. That, coupled with his job and our relationship, is the embodiment of long distance. But we’re both adults. I’ll be busy with work as well. I have no doubt we can make this work.
“Really? That’s really good. How did they take the news, and please tell me you didn’t go looking for them alone,” he says as he starts the car.
