Page 177 of Well That Happened

Even if I haven’t said the words yet.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Rilee

I stare at the job offer on my laptop screen for the hundredth time.

Competitive pay. Amazing training program. A beach literally down the street. The kind of opportunity I fought tooth and nail to earn.

But my chest is tight.

I hitCallon Fletcher’s contact before I can second-guess it.

He answers on the second ring. “Hey, Ri. You okay?”

I laugh, but it’s wobbly. “Define okay.”

He hears it. The crack in my voice.

“You need to talk?”

“Yeah,” I whisper. “Yeah, I think I do.”

I sit down on the edge of my bed, tucking one leg under me.

“Remember the job I told you about?”

“San Diego?” he asks, already knowing.

“Yep. Full-time. Starts in two weeks.”

Silence.

I wait for him to tell me to take it. Or tell me it’s okay if I don’t. I’m not sure which I want more.

Instead, he says, “What’s stopping you?”

I close my eyes. “Everything. My life here. What if… what if I’m walking away from something I can’t ever get back?”

“Rilee.”

His voice is calm. Steady. Big-brother strong.

“This is yourdream. You worked your ass off to get here. Every late night, every exam, every clinical that nearly broke you? This is what it was for.”

A tear slides down my cheek.

“You don’t get it,” I say softly.

“I get it more than you think,” Fletcher says. “You’re scared. And that’s okay. But staying because you’re scared isn’t the same as staying because it’s right.”

My breath hitches.

More tears fall.

Silent and steady.

“This is your future, Ri. And I’ll come visit every chance I get.”

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