“Well, it is,” he told me firmly then he was done and I knew it when he started to turn back to the door, muttering, “Call you Tuesday.”
He didn’t move in slow motion but it felt like he did as thoughts collided in my brain.
Lots of them.
Too many.
Weeks of them.
And they did this so fast it felt like my head was going to explode.
Then I felt my shoulders square with a snap and I stated, “You’ll call me Tuesday.”
He looked back at me and, sounding impatient, he confirmed, “Yeah. That’s what I said. I’ll call you Tuesday.”
“I’ve seen you every day, slept beside you every night for weeks and all of a sudden I not only won’t see you but I won’t hear from you for two days.”
“Right,” he replied.
“You told me I wouldn’t sleep without you,” I reminded him and finished, “Ever. Now you’re saying I won’t sleep with you for two days?”
A muscle worked in his jaw but he didn’t speak.
My heart started racing.
I changed tactics.
“What if I don’t want to wait until Tuesday?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Faye, it’s late. I’m wiped. We’ll talk Tuesday.”
“Would it matter to you that I’d rather you didn’t leave right now but we either talk about whatever’s obviously seriously bothering you or you allow me to see to you in other ways?”
“No, it wouldn’t because I’m tired. I been thinkin’ on the way home and I’m tellin’ you the way you can see to me is to give me space. So, you’ll give me space and we’ll talk Tuesday.”
I’d give him space. He decided and that was it.
It hit me just then that Chace decided a lot and that was it.
And it also hit me that whenever my girlfriends told me their boyfriends needed space, they didn’t need space, as such, they needed something else entirely.
So I made a decision, my first in our relationship.
“No we won’t,” I announced and his brows drew together.
Then he took in a calming breath, clearly tamping down his irritation that he was dealing with his inexperienced girlfriend and he explained, “When I say I need space, Faye, when anyone wants space, it’s important to give it to them.”
Oh no.
Frak no.
He might be my first pretty much everything but I wasn’t seventeen and exploring the ways of the world. I was twenty-fraking-nine, not stupid, I had my own opinions, my own desires, my own needs and they were just as valid as his.
Last, I was suddenly so over this I could scream.
I didn’t scream.
I invited, shrugging off my coat, “Great, take a lot of it.”