Page 122 of The Comeback Summer

I look up at him. “You would?”

“Of course! I want you to come wherever I go.”

His words are reassuring and warm, and it feels so good to hear them. Except for one thing.

“But my work is here,” I say.

“Sure, but you could get another job.”

I give a short laugh of disbelief. “It’s not just a job—it’s my career. My family business. I can’t just pack up and leave.”

He studies me like he truly doesn’t understand, a wrinkle forming between his dark eyebrows. “You’ve been telling me for weeks that you’re unhappy working with your sister—”

“I wouldn’t say unhappy—”

“Okay, but you’ve been wanting to make a change. That’s why I’ve encouraged you to go for it with Serena and Preeti.”

I blink. “You were doing all that to make it easier for me to leave my sister?”

“No! I mean, maybe.” He runs a hand through his hair, flustered. “I want you to have a career you enjoy, and it wouldn’t hurt if you had some flexibility. I want to build a life together—”

“But only if I change my life to accommodate yours,” I say. “Only if I follow you.”

It’s not that I would never consider moving—it’s more that heassumedI would follow him, without even a discussion. If we stay together, is this how it’ll be—his career coming first?His plans always taking precedence over mine? That’s not the kind of partnership I want.

He hasn’t answered, but I can see by way his jaw is set that he isn’t budging on this.

“It’s not fair to expect me to be the one who does all the bending,” I say, hurt tinging my voice. “This is where I want to be—here, in Chicago, working with Libby, running GiGi’s company together.”

“And I need to be at a university that can support my research,” he says. “This is my life’s work—I thought you understood that. I thought you wanted to be with me.”

“I do! But you’re expecting me to choose between you and my sister.”

His eyes flash with frustration. “And you’re expecting me to give up my dreams so you can stay here and not chase yours.”

His words punch me in the stomach. “But—my dreams are here,” I stammer. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do.”

“Are you serious?” He shakes his head, incredulous. “After everything you’ve told me about how stifled you feel at work?”

“I’m not stifled! I want to adjust our roles and responsibilities, but I have no intention of leaving. I’m not going to abandon my sister.”

“And I’d never ask you to—but I don’t want to lose you, Hannah. You’ve been the one bright spot in the middle of all this darkness. When we’re together, it’s the only time I can forget about everything that’s happening with my mom.”

I flinch; this isn’t the compliment he means it to be. I don’t want to be all sunshine and fun—a real relationship means sharing the dark times, too.

“But that’s the issue,” I say gently. This is difficult to tell him, but I think it’s necessary. “The past few weeks have beenfun, but they haven’t been real—you haven’t been real. You haven’t let me in. You haven’t allowed me to see what’s going on inside you.”

And it’s all too similar to what happened in college—he was so unhappy, but he didn’t tell me. The old feeling of abandonment wells up inside me, filling my lungs with panic. I can’t go through that again. I can’t spend the next few years falling deeper in love with him, only for him to disappear and leave me broken.

Josh slumps back against the desk. He looks so hopeless that my heart fractures right in two, because I feel the same way.

“I didn’t mean to shut you out,” he says, his voice bleak. “It was just nice to have something good. With you. Something easy.”

Again, not a compliment. My old fears rush back—that Josh stayed with me all those years in high school and college because I made it easy for him. As soon as it became difficult—as soon as he had to work to keep connected with me—he let our relationship fall by the wayside.

My lungs ache, and I struggle to take a breath. “So, you got back together with me because it was... convenient?”

He frowns, but he doesn’t deny it. “That’s not—”

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