Page 84 of Nerdelicious
Granny gives me one last hug, squeezing me tight. “Give your momma my regards, and tell Scarlett to bring that handsome man and his family down for a visit.”
“I will.”
“Good luck with your new job, and remember, the road to hell wasn’t paved in a day.”
I laugh. “I’ll always remember that, Granny.”
And then I’m in the truck with Beast, heading down the driveway, then through Blue Falls, down Main Street. Past the Finer Diner. Past the H-E-B, waving to Ol’ Roy.
It’s both the longest and shortest drive in the whole damn world. I want to get it over with, but at the same time I want it to never end.
Beast parks at the curb, gets my bag out of the back, and opens my door for me. People move around us, dragging their luggage.
I can’t meet his eyes. I might lose it. He kisses me with my eyes shut, like that will keep the emotion away. Tears threaten to overwhelm me, especially when the kiss turns into gentle pecks, first my top lip, then the bottom, brushing his nose against mine before pulling away, his hands surrounding the back of my neck.
I keep my eyes shut. “You’ll come to visit as soon as you can?”
But of course, he can’t answer unless I open my eyes. His thumbs brush my cheeks and I blink my eyes open.
I immediately want to close them again. Beast’s eyes are glassy, lined in red.
I can’t handle this.
“The very first break in school, we’ll see each other. We’ll make it happen.”
He nods.
“Why does a few months feel like a lifetime?”
He kisses me again, this time harder and swifter.
“Can we have phone sext?”
That generates a smile, a small upturning of his lips, but it doesn’t chase the shadows from his eyes.
“I better go.” My mouth is dry, my stomach threatening to revolt.
I want to say it. I almost say it.
I love you.
But I can’t. It’s too hard.
Instead I kiss him, one last time.
“This isn’t goodbye. It’s see you later.”
And on that super lame parting—which fits, considering our history—I grab my bag and walk inside. I don’t look back. If I do, I might not be strong enough to leave.
The flight home is a blur. I can’t see much through my tears. My mind keeps going back to those final moments with Beast and everything that I’m leaving behind.
Now I understand why Bella was so depressed inNew Moon. We may as well be Edward and Bella... minus the sparkly skin and blood drinking and you know, gross and questionable hundred-year age gap.
My seatmate gives me a wide berth, but things start looking better when I’ve downed three of those little booze containers.
I manage to pull myself together by the time the plane is taxiing on the runway at JFK.
Exiting the terminal, a group of people clustered near the escalator wave at me. It’s my parents, along with Scarlett, Guy, and his two little sisters, Emma and Ava.
