Page 141 of When We Had Forever
“Oh. Are those really different?” Mostly, I say it just to see the look on his face, which is nothing short of comical.
“Jesus Christ,” he says. “I don’t know if I can marry you now.”
“That’s fine.” I smile, taunting. “I’ve already done the marriage thing, anyway. Wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
His eyes widen, as if he can’t believe I said that, and he goes quiet for a while. Then, “Do you hate Michael? For what he did?”
I look out the window. That’s a question I’ll probably be trying to answer for the rest of my life. “I don’t know. Do you?”
“Yeah,” he says. “More for your sake than mine. But yes.”
I nod. “Well, wherever he is, maybe he’s with Lily. Maybe she’s taking care of him and he got what he wanted. Maybe we all did, and that’s all that matters, in the end.”
Grayson squeezes my hand. “Maybe.”
I don’t really believe that, but hey. Anything’s possible.
That’s for damn sure.
At Sea-Tac, Grayson wheels both suitcases inside. I try to take command of my own, but he insists on being chivalrous, and I don’t fight himtoohard.
It’s nice to be taken care of.
Still, my nerves buzz as we pass through the sliding doors of the terminal. I don’t want to say goodbye. God, I don’t want to say goodbye...ever.
But I know I have to go.
We find the line for my flight first. Grayson has already checked in electronically—something I’ll probably have to figure out one of these days.
As I move to join the mile-long queue, he catches at my elbow and pulls me close, making us into an island of stillness amid the heaving crowd. When I look up, my breath snags in my lungs, as if I’m seeing him for the first time all over again.
His golden hair tumbles over one eye, gleaming in the light from the windows. He studies me while a girl squeals his name in the background.
Neither of us turn to look.
“I want to ask you something,” he says.
My breath thins. “Okay?”
“Not to stay, of course. I’m not that selfish. But I was wondering if...maybe...you’d let me come with you?”
The airport falls silent, its bustle a thousand miles removed from this moment. “What, to Greece?”
“Yeah,” he says.
“Rightnow?”
“Right now.”
“Instead of Malaysia?”
“Yep.”
A tingle sweeps through me. “But what’ll happen if you don’t show up to your assignment?”
“I don’t know. They’ll fire me, probably. Who gives a shit?”
“Ido. I can’t just let you torpedo your career for my sake.”
