Page 146 of Awakened Desires

“We will.”

“Promise?”

I hold up my pinky finger.

Hendrix chokes out a laugh and hooks his pinky around mine.

“I promise,” I say solemnly.

“Good.” He wipes his eyes and then darts up the stairs.

There’s a lump in my throat, and tears sting my eyes. Saying goodbye is hard. I go down the stairs for another round of hugs.

I pull Theo to me and whisper in his ear. “Take care of Hendrix, would you?”

Theo glances up the stairs. “Of course.” He slips away from me and heads upstairs, probably to find Hendrix.

I put my arm around Callan’s shoulders. “We should go.” I’m alarmed by how rough my voice sounds.

“Aye, we should. Thank you,” he says to our remaining housemates. “For everything.”

I hug everyone one last time, and then Callan and I go out to the van. Our housemates, all except Theo and Hendrix, stand on the doorstep and wave goodbye.

“God, that was hard,” I say once we’re on our way.

“Having regrets?” Callan takes his eyes off the road long enough to glance at me.

“No. Moving out is the right thing to do. We needed more space and a garden for Aidan to play in.”

He puts his hand on my knee. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Callan’s things from his flat in Dublin have been in storage since his parents came to visit. We’ve arranged to swing by and pick them up on our way to our new home. We spend the rest of the day carrying things into the new house and putting everything in the right rooms. Once we’re done, we store the flattened packing boxes in the loft and take the van back to the hire company and get a taxi home.

“Home,” Callan says.

I wrap my arms around him. “How does it feel?”

“Wonderful. How are you?”

I shrug. “A little sad.”

“We should invite them over for a housewarming,” Callan suggests.

“Good idea. After Christmas?”

“Definitely. We’ve only got a week to decorate. We should get a real tree.”

“That would be lovely, as long as you don’t mind hoovering up pine needles every day.”

Callan laughs. “I don’t. I love the smell of a real tree. It reminds me of Christmases in Wexford.” His breath hitches in his throat.

“Are you okay?”

He nods. “There are lots more good memories than bad, and we’re making new happy memories every day.” He smiles. “I’m cherishing them all.”

“So am I.”