Page 22 of When We Had Forever
“Yeah.” My breathing turns ragged as the fantasy I came so close to touching recedes. “I have enough saved up to live in Athens for a while, just not enough togetthere. And... Oh, god. I have no clue what to do now. Except text Patrick and tell him the job isn’t something I can do.”
Michael’s eyebrows pull together. “Well, all you need is a ticket, right?” He yanks his phone from his back pocket, then starts typing and swiping with fervor.
“Yeah, but... What’re you doing?”
“Booking you a flight. There’s one from Sea-Tac at eleven eleven tonight, connecting through Heathrow. Will that do?”
I wonder if I’ve lost my mind, or if he has. “No, what? You can’t do that. You can’t just...buyme a plane ticket.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t even know me.”
“The hell I don’t.” His fingers pause. When he glances up, something fierce glitters in his expression. “Besides, I’m not leaving you here with Toothpick Boy. Or letting you get into a situation with some other asshole like him.”
“Put your phone away.”
“Why,” he says. Not a question, but a challenge.
“Because.” I flail about for an explanation. “I have toearnit. Greece, this whole trip... None of it means anything if I don’t make it happen on my own.”
His jaw hardens, but a grudging respect flares in his eyes. “Well, damn.” He stashes his phone. “What’re our options, then?”
Theourthrows me. The whole insane, incredible situation throws me. In a matter of hours, this man has single-handedly prompted me to rethink my entire life, and now I can only blink up at him while he watches me expectantly.
“I don’t understand you,” I say.
“What?”
“You. I don’t get it. I barely know you, but here you are taking me on road trips and rescuing me from aggressive jerks and trying to buy me international plane tickets. It’s like everything Sarah and Brooke said was the complete opposite of the truth.”
His eyes flare. “Sarah?And Brooke? How the hell do you know them?”
“I don’t. I just met them for a second. Inside Seaside House, while I was looking for you.”
“Huh.” He blinks a few times. “I’m surprised you made it out to the parking lot if they got to you first. What’d they say?”
I bite my lip. “That you’ve been acting weird for the past month. Avoiding everyone.”
His gaze slides away. “Uh-huh. Well, that’s definitely true.”
When he doesn’t elaborate, I consider asking for more, but after what he shared in the car, that almost seems uncharitable.
“What else?” he asks.
“Um...that you’re an asshole.”
“Oh.” He nods slowly. “Well, they’re not wrong about that, either.”
My breath spills out, and I edge closer. I don’t know why, except that he anchors me somehow. “But you’ve been the exact opposite of an asshole.”
“Toyou.” He curls one hand around my elbow and pulls—gently, almost hesitantly. “But you’re different.”
I try to hold on to logic, but I feel myself changing shape inside. “How can you say that? You’ve known me for a day.”
“It’d be obvious to anyone with a brain.” He exhales sharply. “I mean, I just tried to buy you a twenty-two-hundred-dollar plane ticket, and youwouldn’t let me. Even if we ignore the entire car ride before that, that pretty much says it all.”
My lips part on a drawn breath. God, he’s so close, and so tall, and his smell makes my head spin. His fingers stroke my elbow, turning me fuzzy and electric inside. A hum builds in my center, as if I’m standing beneath a spool of high-voltage power lines and the current has sneaked beneath my skin.
