Page 90 of When Annika Met Thom

“No.” Annika took a deep breath to steady herself. Leo wanted a fight and she wasn’t going to give him one. “Making love with Thom was wonderful. I learned so much about what I was missing.”

Leo’s eyes flashed, but she held up a finger.

“Don’t you ever touch me again. Don’t you call me. Don’t you turn up at my parents’ house at Christmas, hoping that someone will take pity on you and let you in. We are doneforever.”

This time, Leo didn’t argue with her. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at her. Annika got her suitcase, which was already packed, and put the cover on Percival’s cage, well aware of the aura of annoyance filling the apartment. She ignored Leo completely, stepping around him to leave the apartment.

She paused on the threshold to look back. “How did you know anyway?”

“Mrs. Moriarty told me that you were too busy to miss me.”

“Well, she was right.” With that, Annika left the apartment, without a backward glance. There was nothing for her there now. Her heart was light and her step lighter.

All she had to do was find Thom.

She had his cell phone number from that first day!

* * *

Thom was loadinghis bike onto Rafe’s trailer when his phone rang. He worked with Rafe at the parking garage and was glad Rafe had been able to help him on such short notice. Tessa had Cerberus and all Thom’s stuff, and the bike was the last thing to pack.

He had no idea where he was going, but he could crash at Tessa’s in the short term.

Whoever it was had never called him before, because there was no caller ID. He let it go to voice mail, since Rafe had to get to work. Time was of the essence.

It was only when he had the bike in Tessa’s garage in Queens that he remembered the message.

“Hi Thom. It’s me,” Annika said and his gut clenched at just the sound of her voice. He could hear the sounds of a busy station behind her and there was a whistle from a departing train. She spoke more quickly then. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to say goodbye tonight, and I’m really sorry that Leo had to be such a dick even though I know it’s not my fault or my obligation to apologize for him.” She paused for a minute and Thom appreciated that she was trying not to cry. “I wanted to give you one last kiss.” She caught her breath and Thom closed his eyes. “I’m going to miss you.”

She fell silent then and he bowed his head, knowing he missed her already.

“You’d better not change your phone number without letting me know,” she continued, her tone fierce. “Because if I ever come back to New York, I’ll call you. We might be friends then or we might be lovers. We might share a pizza and say nothing at all.” Thom smiled at the low prospect of that. “But I will call you and I hope you’ll answer.”

She ended the call then and Thom stood for a long moment, just holding his phone. He listened to the message again, then he saved it, hoping that she would come back, hoping that she would call.

He should have told her that rebound risk was over in thirty days, not sixty. At least he hadn’t said a year.

In the meantime, he had to find a place to live.

* * *

Six weeks later,Annika looked out the window of the train after it left Pittsburgh. The countryside was more lush and green than when she’d last come east, but she wasn’t really interested in the view. She was working up her nerve to make a call, and had been trying to do so since she’d gotten on the train three days before in Portland. Percival was running in his hamster wheel, oblivious to her emotional turmoil. She’d had a long talk with her dad once she’d arrived home and he’d encouraged her to follow her heart.

It was scary, though.

What if Thom had changed his phone number?

What if he didn’t answer?

What if he didn’t want to see her?

Dozens of possibilities spun in her thoughts but only the bad ones popped up repeatedly. She looked at her phone and knew she had to do it. She pulled up his number on her contacts list, pressed the button to call, then closed her eyes and crossed her fingers.

He answered on the first ring. “Annika,” he breathed her name with a wonder that made her heart leap.

“Hi.” She spoke in a rush, worried that if she paused for breath, he’d hang up. “I’m on the train from Pittsburgh because I’m moving to New York. The firm is setting up an office there, just the way I thought they would, and I’m one of three employees there and I still have to find a place to live but I’ll get a hotel for now and I wondered whether…”

“Where’s Percival?” he asked, interrupting her.

---