Page 51 of Sam & Justin

“My treat,” Sam answered before I had a chance.

We went to a place called Dana’s Diner for dinner and then, just as Sam predicted, we found ourselves at a bar called The Rusty Nail. It reminded me of a less clean Timbers and Tallboys. Everything was sticky, but the band playing that night was good.

It was well after midnight when we finally made our way back to Sam’s. We fell into his bed and spent the rest of the night exploring one another’s bodies. Afterward, he helped me clean my new tattoo, and I fell asleep in his arms.

The next morning, I didn’t want to leave.

As much as I loved Gomillion, I didn’t want to go back. It wasn’t that King’s Bay felt more like home or anything like that. It didn’t. I loved the small town, but it was just a town to me. It didn’t have the history and the ties that Gomillion did. But it had one thing Gomillion didn’t. It had Sam.

And I didn’t want to leave him.

When I drove away, it felt like I was leaving a piece of myself back in King’s Bay.

19

Two Months After the Reunion

Missing Justin was becoming a personality trait at this point.

I missed him all day, every day. I missed him when I woke up in my bed alone, remembering the few nights the month before when he was sleeping next to me. I missed him when I went to bed, alone. I missed him when we were on the phone, talking and eating our dinner and watching a few episodes of our show. I missed him even when I was sending texts to him. There was not a moment that passed where I wasn’t missing him.

It had gotten worse over the last week, because Justin was taking longer to text me back. Our phone calls were getting later and shorter. He said he was just busy at work, but it felt like there was something more going on. It felt like he was getting fed up with the fact that we were long distance. It wasn’t like I could blame him either, because we’d spent a grand total of six daystogether in two months. Why wouldn’t he be getting tired of that?

Why wouldn’t he want to be with someone he could actually touch, someone he could have real dinner dates with? All I could offer him was a voice on the phone.

I wish I could say that my relationship was all I had to worry about, but that’d be too easy. My first session that morning had gone all wrong. My client hadn’t shown up, but his mom had. She’d blown in like a hurricane, ripping me a new one for missing the signs. Because her son, my client, had overdosed over the weekend. He was in the hospital. She was right though. I’d missed every sign. I spent an hour talking to her and listening to what she said. I should have known he was using drugs. I should have seen the signs.

I’d been too distracted.

When she left, I felt like screaming. I didn’t have an appointment right after, so I told my receptionist that I was on do not disturb for the next half hour. I needed that time to come back down, to calm myself so I didn’t lose my shit.

And even though I knew that Justin was getting tired of whatever was going on between us, I texted him anyway. Because I didn’t just need someone to talk to, I neededhim.

Sam

I miss you.

Justin

I miss you too. Good day?

Sam

Terrible one. First client didn’t show.

Justin

And you could’ve slept in.

Sam

He’s in the hospital. Something I should’ve picked up on.

Just had his mom in here ripping me a new one.

My phone rang less than thirty seconds after I hit send. Justin’s name flashed across the screen. “Are you okay?”

So that was all it took to get an immediate response from him? I hated the bitterness in my thoughts, and I knew he didn’t deserve it. I was just upset over the confrontation I’d just had, and it wasn’t fair of me to take it out on him. I took a deep breath and willed myself to find some damn common sense. “No.”