Page 57 of Hometown Virgin

“You’re welcome,” I said drily.

“No. I’m being serious. Thank you.” He clenched his eyes shut. “It’s a douche thing to admit, but I’m glad you were…”

“Doing a good impression of a nun?” I mocked.

He pulled a face. “A sexy nun?”

“Doesn’t make it much better,” I replied, but I nuzzled my cheek into his hold to take the sting from my words.

Truth was, I was glad too.

And that was a little bit of the closure I’d needed since he left.

The attraction between us had never gone anywhere because it wasn’t supposed to.

It was supposed to stay a permanent fixture in both our live because, as Phoebe had once said in FRIENDS, he was my lobster.

And I was his.

Chapter 20

LAUREN

Tears poured down my cheeks three hours later as I drove back from his rental, having watched him drive off, the city his end destination.

I resented that he’d brought his car here. Knew I’d have had a few days longer with him if he’d just flown, but it was a stupid thing to resent. Still, I was feeling pretty stupid.

Watching him go, seeing those tail lights disappear into the distance...?

That had almost been as hard as seeing him leave that first time.

I had to remind myself that this wasn’t forever. I had to knock that into my thick skull.

He was coming back for me.

He was.

I just had to have faith.

The thought made me gnaw at my lip. I believed in him, had faith in him, but I was still uneasy.

I had a feeling I would be until he was back at my side or in my bed once more.

Which meant I had some gnarly days ahead of me.

Not even Coop knew when he’d be back, but he’d promised to call me every evening, and we already had established a ‘chat’ that I knew from the past would be a constant thread of communication between us.

As I pulled into my drive, I saw my mom’s car parked outside the house. I reached for my shit, palmed my phone, and couldn’t stop myself from sending him a text.

Missing you already.

Understatement of the year, and the man had only been gone twenty minutes.

Jesus. He’d not even left town yet.

Before I could bawl my eyes out even more than I already had done when I’d waved him off, I climbed out of the car.

When I did, I headed for the door and unlocked it. The scent of coffee filled my nostrils, as did the scents of bacon and pancake batter frying on the stove.