Page 95 of A Real Goode Time

I nodded. Held her eyes. “Well, where’s the line between I think, and I do?”

She closed her eyes, turned her head away to face the ceiling. Inhaled slowly, deeply—let it out shakily between pursed lips. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“No shit,” I said, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “But it did.”

Another shaky breath. “Rhys…I…” She turned to look at me again, this time with tear-hazed eyes. “I’m way past I think.”

“Dammit,” I hissed. “You couldn’t just not feel the same way? You couldn’t just not give a shit? Just break my heart, Torie. It’d be easier than this.”

A long silence. “I know. I feel the same way,” she said. “If you just wanted to screw me and go your way, I’d be better off. I could give you my V-card, have some great memories, and then just get over my feelings and move on with my life.”

“Yet, here we both are.”

“In Alaska,” she said. She rubbed her face; she still had the towel around her hair, but it was coming loose, exposing a hint of black underneath. “The place I’m staying, and you’re not.”

I swallowed hard. “You’re staying, huh?”

She seemed barely able to summon a whisper. “The moment I hugged my mama, I knew.” Her eyes met mine. “Part of me would rather go back with you after the wedding.”

I held down my turbulent emotions. “Nah. Your family is here, Tor. This is where you belong.”

“I’d…I’d rather belong with you.”

My eyes stung. “You say that, but…I’ve never belonged to anyone, never had anyone belong to me. Not even a dog. I was more of a roommate with my parents once I got to middle school. I’d…selfishly, I’d love nothin’ more than to belong to you, and you to me. But I don’t…I don’t know if I could uproot myself from New Haven and start over here. And I sure as shit ain’t gonna ask you to come back to New Haven—you said it yourself, that place is a dead end for you.”

“So where does that leave us?” she whispered, barely audible.

“With amazing memories and broken hearts, I guess.”

“It’s been, what, six or seven days? How the hell can I feel this strongly for you after less than a week? It’s stupid. That shit only happens in movies and cheesy romance novels, not in real life.”

“I don’t know,” I said.

She was quiet a while, and I let the silence breathe. After a minute or two, she pushed at me. “Go. Get cleaned up. We gotta meet my enormous new family.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get ready.”

I stood up, and she held on to my wrist, stopping me before I walked away. “Rhys? You…you can go. Like, leave. If it’s easier. For…you. You don’t have to stay for the wedding. Or at all. You can, you’re invited, and selfishly I’d love more time with you. But if you feel like it’s best to just rip the Band-Aid off, I understand.” She blinked hard. “I just…you have the out. If you want it.”

“Let me shower and think about that.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Truthfully, that does have a certain appeal. But so does more time with you.”

I got into the shower, and when I got out, Torie was gone, and I heard a hair dryer going in her mother’s bathroom, and both towels were on the bed. Me being me, I threw them over the towel rack.

I hadn’t figured out if I should leave or not. Meeting her whole family sounded like fun, but maybe it would just end up being a different version of falling in love with Torie and then having to leave. Maybe it would be better if I just left.

I toweled off, dressed in clean underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt, ran my hand through my hair to get it to lie down as much as it ever would, which wasn’t much. It was thick and unruly, and I rarely had patience to do anything special with it.

I couldn’t just leave. I was burnt out on driving.

I’d leave tomorrow.

Early. Tell her goodbye tonight, and leave at first light.

It’d be best.

It meant not getting to sleep with her, but that was safest. If we did that, I’d fall all the way, and fixing the break in my heart would be…more than I could handle.

Besides…