Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
I’m too shocked to say anything more. This is the last thing I’d expected, but Josie is smiling. Like she has a trick up her sleeve. “Wes,” she whispers.
“Yeah?”
“It’s another three-month gig. It’s only three months. I won’t even be gone that long.”
Oh.
Fuck yes!
I can breathe again. “Three months is nothing. Three months will pass in the blink of an eye.”
“Right?” She sounds so excited.
“I’ll be traveling and playing, and you’ll be working.”
“But not just in Boston, but a couple other libraries in New England—in Providence and Amherst too. They want me to do the job at a handful of branches. It’s a dream job,” she says, but I can hear the worry in her voice even though she’s not asking my permission to take it.
She wants to know if I’ll wait for her. Like I’d do anything else. I grab her hand. “You’re taking it, right?”
“You’d do long-distance?”
“For three months? Baby, I’d do it for a year for you. Hell, I’d do it for as long as it took for you to come back. And I want you to get on that plane and know I’m waiting for you whenever you return. I promise.”
She lets out a relieved breath, and I’m glad I could give her what she needs—certainty in us.
The first day of the new year, I put my money where my mouth is. I drive her to the airport, walk her to security, then tuck a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. “We’ve got this.”
She gives me the saddest smile that’s chased with a tiny bit of hope. “It’ll go by so fast.”
We’ve made plans to talk every night, to text, to sext, to FaceTime. I’m going to see her as soon as I can too. We’ve worked out details for a quick overnight at the beginning of February. I won’t have much time but I can squeeze it in between road trips. Then another few weeks later I’ll fly her home to me for a weekend in early March. It’ll be easy.
So easy.
It’ll be almost the same as having her here.
Lies. Sweet little lies.
But I have to keep telling them to myself. What else can I do?
I press a tender kiss to her forehead, inhaling her cinnamon scent, letting it go to my head one more time. My chest aches. It hollows out, and I can’t stand that she’s leaving so soon after we’ve started. But I also know I’ll wait for her to return for as long as I have to.
I brush my fingers down her cheek, along her jaw, and then lift her face so I can look into those gorgeous blue eyes. “I’m so in love with you. And I’m never going to let you forget it a single day that we’re apart.”
Her smile is bright now. “Be careful what you wish for. You’re going to get so many letters.”
“Bring it on.” I kiss her one more time, a poignant goodbye kiss that has to carry us through.
When we break it, she waves sadly, then turns around and heads through security. I stay till she’s on the other side, walking farther and farther away from me.
As I watch her go, I know with crystal clarity—I have to find a way to get her back.
52
HARD NIPS AND HARD DAYS
January 1
Dear Wesley,
I’m writing this on the plane! And in Comic Sans MS on my tablet. You can listen to it or read it.
By the way, did you know that real plane seats are tiny? You probably don’t because you have those cushy, fabulous seats with so much room but I like to remind you now and then of how the rest of us live.
I’m keeping busy on the plane, trying not to miss you by writing and reviewing my notes for my first training session. It’s—gasp—on Friday.
The best part? I’ll be teaching some high school students about the different resources we have available for research. I’m a big fan of the Internet myself. My favorite things to research? Top Five Positions for Mind-Blowing Sex. Don’t worry. I won’t share those tips.
Here’s a fun fact for you though—we’ve tried them all. But practice makes perfect, as they say. Maybe tonight when I get to the rental apartment I’ll google how to ride your man’s cock like a wild cowgirl.
Love,
Your dirty girl, Josie
My very dirty girl,
We should have a viewing party when you get to that rental. I’ll be waiting.
Wes
January 13
Dear Wesley,
Trying to wipe the freshly fucked grin off my face as I head into my third week of work. You’re as voracious with long-distance sex as you are in person. And as I walk into the library in the freezing cold of New England—seriously, this place is Antarctica levels, and I think my nipples are perma-hard here—I’m still thinking of the things you said last night, and the way you looked. Have I mentioned I love FaceTime? They should rename it FuckTime though.