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“I’ll call,” I say, pressing a kiss to her lips. We’re both standing by the cab of the moving truck, drawing our goodbye out. Our friends are hanging back, shooting the shit, and giving us a little bit of privacy, and I appreciate it since tears are glistening in my girl’s eyes.
Jem sniffles them back. “And I’ll come out on Wednesday. I can only stay the one night though. Is your dad going to be okay with me staying with you two?”
I cup her face in my palms and brush another kiss over her lips. “Yeah, Buttercup, my dad is fine with you staying the night.”
Connor slaps his hand against the side of the moving truck. “Come on, lovebirds, break it up. We gotta hit the road.”
I glare at him. Insensitive ass. Can’t he see I’m in the middle of something with my woman? He and Jackson offered to help me with the trek home and unloading the majority of my possessions into a storage unit until I can find my own place.
I could use the cabin as storage, but since I’m giving up my apartment, I decided to keep it as my base here instead of listing it for sale.
“I gotta go, Buttercup,” I whisper against her lips. But my feet don’t budge. Jem’s tears track down her cheeks, my thumbs not able to brush them away fast enough.
“I know. Gah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to cry.” She gives me a watery smile.
“It’s okay. It’s only a few days and then I’ll see you again. I’ll FaceTime you tonight after dinner.”
She nods and takes a step back from me, her face falling from my hands. She swipes her palms under her eyes to catch the rest of the tears. “Drive safe. Let me know when you make it to Everette.”
I nod. Because my own throat is tight. I hate leaving her behind.
Fuck. This fucking sucks.
I didn’t think that the pain in my chest would sting as bad as it does.
It’s temporary. The mantra is the only thing that’s gotten me through the last few days without going back on my word to my dad and brothers.
I unstick my feet and turn toward the cab, climbing in with a single glance back.
“You guys will be fine,” Connor says while buckling his seat belt.
I nod, starting the engine. My own seat belt clicks into place, and the sound of it in the quiet cab sounds like a gunshot.
Jem gets smaller in the side mirror, but she musters up a smile and a wave for me.
“Yeah, we will,” I say, willing the words to be true.
18
JEM
Felt feels flat.
I don’t know if it’s my lingering sadness that Boone is gone now, or if it’s something wrong with me, but everything about home seems dull.
Boone left yesterday, and the only thing that helped keep my mind off him being gone was throwing myself into work. Luckily Eddy called out sick today, so I snagged his shift to work a double to keep my mind off things.
Our first FaceTime went well. We talked until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore and then said goodnight. As much as I wanted to fall asleep in his arms, I’m proud of him for going home, for keeping his word to his dad about moving back to help with the station.
The bell over the door chimes, Ally, Liv, and Kate coming in. Ally’s carrying something that’s covered in tinfoil, and I have to work to put a smile on my face.
“Hey ladies. You want your usuals?”
I reach for the stack of cups just as Ally says, “No. We’re not here for coffee; we’re here for you.”
“For me?”
Kate and Liv nod along with Ally’s words.
