by herself one night and then the three of us would go out to dinner a night or two later. But just like all things between Val and me, it didn’t exactly go as planned.
Ryan’s flight was due to land at eight in the evening last Saturday night. For the last couple of months, we’d been taking turns staying at each other’s places. With Bella back at school and her son not around, the two of us had grown pretty comfortable with walking around half dressed and occasionally fucking on the kitchen floor, if the mood struck. I was as crazy about her as ever, and the mood struck a lot. So it wasn’t unusual that I’d woken Val by going down on her and then had my junk swinging in the wind while I made two cups of coffee in her kitchen an hour later.
But it was unusual for someone to unlock the front door at nine in the morning and walk in while said junk was on full display.
Ryan’s early flight home surprised both of us, alright. I still had the fading remnants of a black eye to show exactly what a damn surprise it had been. Her son punched first and asked questions later. I couldn’t say I blamed him. Needless to say, the visual had been a lot harder to swallow than the way his mother had planned to tell him she had a boyfriend now—especially since it was me.
I took off my jacket and tossed it over a chair at the kitchen table. The whoosh of air caused a folded piece of mail from the top of a stack to fly off the table and onto the floor. Thinking nothing of it, I bent to pick it up, only the colors of the logo at the top of the letter caught my eye—green, white, and red.
Collocamento internazionale di Roma
My Italian was rusty, but I knew what it was. My heart sank reading the first line.
Dear Ms. Di Giovanni,
Congratulations! We’re excited to inform you that we’ve received your application and one of our consortium member schools has invited you to join their staff for the upcoming school year.
I heard the sound of heels clicking down the stairs, and then Val’s happy voice. “I survived, and I’m ready to celebrate that I didn’t sneeze on any of the parents!”
I turned with the letter still in my hand, and the smile fell from Val’s face. “Oh. Yeah. That came today. The directions said it could take up to twelve weeks to find out if you get a placement. I hadn’t expected it after only two.”
It wasn’t like it was a surprise that she’d applied. I’d been the one to encourage her not to change her plans. But this made it a reality.
I forced a smile. “Congratulations. That’s great.”
She walked to me and took the letter from my hands, pressing a kiss to my lips. “You’re so full of shit.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s good news. I just didn’t expect it today, I guess, so it caught me off guard.”
Val sighed. “I haven’t decided if I’m going yet. I just had to apply by the year-end deadline.”
“You’re going.”
She frowned. “Sounds like you can’t wait to get rid of me.”
I wrapped my hands around her waist and locked them behind her back. “Not a chance. I’m going to be living for school vacations more than I did in high school. I told you, it’s gonna take more than an ocean of distance to separate us.” I squeezed her to me. “This is good. You’re going to have a great time, and I’m gonna be busy while you’re gone, too.”
Val’s eyes widened. “You got the building?”
I nodded. “I did. They accepted my offer. I’ll soon be the proud owner of one rundown pile of steel.”
She smiled. “That you’ll turn into something amazing.”
After I passed on the building in Chicago, I hadn’t really been planning on looking for another project to expand. But one fell right into my lap. I’d picked up Val for lunch at school one day, and we went to a pizza place a few blocks away. After, I’d pulled into a parking lot nearby so I could kiss her and cop a cheap feel before dropping her back off. The parking lot just happened to be attached to an old, rundown warehouse on the outskirts of a nice, up-and-coming area.
I’d kissed my girl until she made that noise I loved so much, and then when I put