still talking?”
I chew the inside of my lip, averting my gaze. Then, gathering my courage, I meet his eyes again. “Yeah. We are.”
Robbie nods. “That’s good. She needs someone.”
I take a deep breath. “I like her, Robbie. A lot.”
Robbie’s face grows slack, his eyes taking a distant stare. “I heard her talking to you on the phone almost every night. What are you going to do?”
My stomach clenches as I run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I think it could have been serious, but Serena keeps talking about staying in New Haven, and Finn keeps asking me to come back to the skydiving business…”
I trail off, lifting my eyes to my friend. Robbie studies me, then slowly nods. He rubs his hand over his jaw, his eyes drifting to the wall of windows to our left. When he looks at me again, his face is serious.
“I think you should come and see her.”
“Serena?”
“No, my mother.” He scoffs. “Yes, Serena. She’s struggling. She takes on everyone’s problems and makes them her own.”
My throat feels tight. I nod, relief inching its way down my spine. If Robbie approves, that means there’s hope for me and Serena, right? I don’t know how it would work with her in Connecticut and me in Woodvale, but lots of people do long distance. We’d be able to figure it out somehow. At least we’d have each other.
Most days, instead of dreaming of starting at the skydiving business again, I’m thinking about Serena. I think about the way it feels to have her arms around me and how much I miss her kiss. I’ve been considering asking for a transfer to change my home base from Seattle to New Haven. I could move if she doesn’t want to. It would be worth it.
If she agreed.
Even though we talk every night, I still hear the distance in her voice. It tugs at my gut, telling me there’s an expiration date to our relationship. Is it even a relationship? It feels like one, but without the really good parts. We don’t get to touch, or kiss, or make love. We don’t get to laugh together or spend time in each other’s company.
But it’s real.
Robbie extends his hand to me and I shake it, feeling the gravity of the moment. “You’re a good man, Kit,” he says. “My sister would be lucky to end up with you.”
My throat is too tight to speak, so all I do is nod.
As Serena’s brother stares at me, I want to tell him the truth. I want to tell him that I care about Serena in a way I didn’t think was possible. It’s not just ‘liking her a lot.’ It’s not just caring about her. It’s love. Deep, unending, earth-shattering love. Our phone calls are the best part of my day, and I spend the rest of my time daydreaming about seeing her again.
But nothing comes out. I can’t say the words, because that would make them real. Even though my heart beats for her, and I’ve never felt anything as close as this before, it’s still hard to speak the word love out loud.
The feeling is there, though, and I think Robbie senses it.
It takes another two weeks to organize time off on the other side of the country. I head back to Woodvale for a night. Serena left a few things at my place, and I decide to bring them back to her in New Haven. I don’t know when she’ll be back—but I also know that there’s hope for us. I might move over there. Keeping her things here doesn’t make sense.
So, I pack up her bag and set it near the door, then find my way over to the Blue Cat Bar.
Jackson’s pulling beers, eyeing a drunk patron with suspicion. I jerk my chin at him, sliding onto a barstool.
“Hey, stranger,” he says. “The usual?”
“Please.”
Jackson spins around to grab a pint glass, then pours me a cold beer. I thank him and take a sip when a hand lands on my shoulder.
“Long time no see,” Finn says, grinning. “Have you given any thought to my offer? We’ll be starting spring jumps in two and a half months. Would be nice to have you on board when we start getting busier. We can go back to how things were. Equal partnership. This is your business as much as mine.”
“Hello to you too.” I grin. “That was quite the sales pitch.”
“I need you, Kit,” Finn