Page 25 of Come to Me

The two of us growing apart.

But if Luke and I both make sure that doesn't happen...

"Okay," I say, feeling a little dazed at the roller coaster of emotion. "I'll do it. I'll take it."

Luke pumps his fist into the air before picking me up and spinning me around.

I laugh, kissing his happy smile.

But I still feel like it's an enormous risk.

Like this might be the very thing that takes our nearly perfect relationship and burns it to the ground.

Chapter Six

Luke

Alyssa is distant all week.

I want to pry her feelings out of her, but she's going through a lot. Giving her time to process seems like a good idea.

Time moves quickly. It's all travel plans and living arrangements. A friend of a friend has a sublet that lines up perfectly with Alyssa's schedule. It's furnished. It's clean. It's in the middle of the quiet, safe financial district.

I almost tell him no--Alyssa would much rather live in some fourth floor walk-up in the village; a place with "character" and drug-dealer neighbors--but my need to protect her gets the best of me. I'll feel better knowing she's in a building with a doorman and security cameras on every floor.

It's like we're in a dream as we prepare.

We pack. We drive to the airport. We try and fail to sleep on our red eye flight.

And then we're in a cab, on our way into New York City.

Alyssa rests her head on my shoulder, her hand locked with mine. She's not as used to thriving on a night of awful sleep.

She looks at me when I shake her gently, groggy and irritable. I point to the skyline. Her jaw drops and her eyes go wide. "Jesus Christ," she breathes.

She moves towards the window, sticking her face against it like a kid on a road trip. "That's... it's... it's so... Oh, my God, Luke. That's fucking New York City!"

I laugh, happy to see her excited.

"It fucking is."

"I'm going to live there for six months." She smiles, her face filling with delight. She's waking up. "I'm going to be a New Yorker."

"You're practically one already."

"Spoken like a true Californian. Do you have any idea how different suburban Massachusetts is from New York City?"

I shrug.

"As different as suburban San Diego and Los Angeles?"

"Not even close."

She looks so happy. Thank God I convinced her.

Her jaw drops. "Jesus. That's really a skyline. Makes downtown LA look like a joke."

"Are you going to come back to California complaining about the coffee?"