Epilogue
Gavin
“So.”
“So,” Charlie agreed.
I put the key in the ignition of our new rental—a blue Toyota this time. “Ready?”
“I don’t know.” Charlie took a deep breath and blew it out, his cheeks puffing.
My heart stuttered. “What don’t you know about?”
He motioned his hand between us. “About what happens when we get back to San Francisco.”
With a dry mouth, I asked, “You don’t think we can make it work?”
“You’re in Palo Alto. I’m in the city. It’s like, an hour on the Caltrain. You know what they say about long-distance relationships.” He shook his head with mock solemnity.
Relief flowed through me, and although I was really tempted to smack his arm, I put on my best serious expression. “You’re right. It might be too much. Guess we shouldn’t have wasted all those years we lived on the same block.”
Charlie leaned in and kissed me. “We really shouldn’t have,” he whispered.
“We’ll just have to make up for lost time.” I slipped my hand under his shirt and caressed his back, his muscles flexing under my fingers. “Wanna start now?”
He kissed me again, his tongue pushing into my mouth and making me moan as he pressed me against the door.
I took that as a resounding yes.
When I turned the key a few minutes later, Charlie plugged in his phone and cued up that Taylor Swift song. We sang along, horribly off-key and not caring even a bit as we drove toward the freeway and our new future, bright as the western sun on the horizon.
THE END