Page 168 of Ten Day Affair
The aftershocks of what just happened ripple through my body. That raw emptiness behind my ribs is finally filled, like I've been holding my breath for months and can finally exhale.
She's quiet, staring at the ceiling. Her thighs still quiver slightly against mine.
"I'm going to miss you when I leave in the morning."
"I'm going to miss you, too."
"These last few days have felt like something that's happening to someone else," she murmurs, her voice soft and hoarse.
I shift onto my elbow, studying the curve of her jaw in the dim light filtering through her curtains. My injured arm is still sore, but I can finally move it without wincing.
My thumb traces her collarbone, making slow patterns across her damp skin.
"I've been thinking about something I wanted to run by you."
Her eyes drift toward me, lazy and satisfied. "Yeah?"
"There's an investment opportunity in Atlanta. It's a high-rise in Buckhead that needs serious work. It's a major renovation project."
She doesn't respond immediately, just watches my fingers move across her skin.
"What are you saying?"
"I want to take it. I want to have an opportunity to be close to you. If that isn't too creepy, I mean."
"Would you be moving there?"
"I could be there three, maybe four days a week. Sometimes more."
The words hang between us. I'm not making this pitch like a business deal. No projections or quarterly forecasts. I'm laying my truth bare.
"It's not about flipping a building, Sam. It's about you. Being near you and choosing this. Choosing us."
She’s quiet as she watches me.
"I don’t need grand gestures, Cole. I just need you to mean it. And if you do, then yeah. I would like that."
My chest tightens with relief and gratitude. It's something dangerously close to hope.
"I don't expect this to fix everything like a magic wand. I know it will take time. But I want to show you, consistently, without conditions, that I'm here, that I see you. That I'm all in."
My thumb traces the hollow of her throat. She's so still beneath my touch, like she's afraid to move and break whatever spell this is.
The ocean crashes outside her window, filling the silence between us. This isn't how I imagined saying any of this when I found the project after researching endlessly to find something, anything, to be an excuse to be in her city.
“I know,” she says quietly.
She shifts closer, skin on skin, and presses a kiss to my chest like a vow. I hold her tighter. Neither of us moves.
There's no armor left, no pretending. This isn’t a fresh start. It’s something better.
It's a beginning we choose, with eyes wide open.
Epilogue
One Year Later
The tide rolls in softly. The relaxing motion and sound is medicine to my soul.
