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Sophie had pulled back and looked at Bryce then.

“No, it’s my last night here. We didn’t intend to stay out this long,” Bryce had explained, running a hand through Sophie’s hair. “Want to go, babe?”

Sophie had nodded, and Bryce knew it was about that time. Every minute counted now. They had hours left, not days. They had one night left to hold one another, make love, assure each other that they wanted this and that it would work, make plans for their next visit, and now, to talk about Sophie’s new job, which would probably mean it wouldn’t be easy for her to take time off for a while.

“You should come with me,” Bryce suggested before she kissed the top of Sophie’s head.

“What?”

“Right now, you don’t have a job, Soph. I have to get back because I’ve got an electrician coming to my place for my aunt, but you could come with me before your new job starts. If you get the offer tomorrow after I leave, you’ll know your start date, right?”

“I guess, yeah.” Sophie looked up at her.

“Maybe you can come for a visit between now and then. They think you have a job, right? They’d expect you to give notice.”

“As much as I would love that, and I would, I need a paycheck, Bry. The sooner I can start, the sooner I’ll get my first check. I can get by without it, but I’d rather not have to. If we’re doing the long-distance thing for a while, I need to be able to afford flights and gas if I drive.”

“Okay. But maybe a week?” she asked. “At least a few of those days could be spent with me, right?”

Sophie smiled at her and said, “I’ll see what they want, and if I can make it work, I’m there.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Sophie said. “I know you’re worried because I’ll have this new job with probably not a lot of time off, right?”

“It’s a big corporation. Don’t they usually give you a certain number of days per year, and you have to earn them first?”

“Yes,” Sophie said. “But you’re forgetting something.”

“What?”

“I will be working remotely. I can work from your place as long as you can keep your dropped beer cans and loud bags of potato chips out of my meetings.”

“Deal.” Bryce laughed before she kissed Sophie’s lips.

“Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Your pocket is vibrating. So, unless you’ve been wearing something all day that you haven’t told me about, your phone is going off.”

“I know. I’m ignoring it.”

“Bryce, you can answer the phone. We’re watching a movie.”

“It’s our last night.”

“It’s okay,” Sophie said. “You hung out with my friends tonight. I’m sure that’s one of yours.”

Bryce pulled her phone out and saw that it was Kelsey calling.

“Kels, this better be good. This is my last–”

“We kissed!”

“Woah! I heard that,” Sophie said, leaning back because Kelsey had been so loud.

“What?” Bryce asked, putting her phone on speaker. “And a little softer this time, please. You nearly burst Sophie’s eardrum.”