11. Chapter 11
Benson
Walking away from someone has never been harder.
I cross the hotel to Nick’s room with heavy feet, like they are as convinced as the rest of me that I shouldn’t have left Avery.
Pausing with my hand on the door, I look back the way I came as if I might see her through the walls.
It’s a good thing I can’t. I need to get a couple hours of sleep before I head to the airport and trek back to New York.
I have less than a day at home, and then I’ll be on a flight to my next temporary destination for almost a month, and that’s the only reason I’m not rushing back to the woman who fills a space in me I didn’t realize was empty.
I don’t know how to make it work. I don’t even know if I’m capable of a real relationship.
I’m too transient, and my business can’t function standing still.
I’ve been doing this work for almost a decade, and I’m good at it.
It makes me feel fulfilled and successful and valuable, and that’s a hard thing to give up when I’ve spent my life jumping from one thing to the next, trying to find something that sticks.
But Avery makes me feel…something.
Of course I can’t think of the right word. Important , useful , wanted . Like I matter.
Whole .
She makes me feel complete . And I can’t do the same for her, so I need to walk away.
I slide my phone from my pocket and pull up her number in my contacts, gazing at the picture I set for her.
It’s from three days ago, and Avery looks absolutely breathtaking.
She always does, but that day we found ourselves at the Piazzale Michelangelo right at sunset.
The hill overlooks Florence, offering a panoramic view of the city that can’t be beat.
But it’s Avery who shines the brightest in the photo, her laughing smile so much more beautiful than the city behind her or the golden sky overhead.
I delete the contact, a pang settling in my chest even if it’s for the best. I delete Dani’s info as well, though I can’t bring myself to block her number in case she texts me again.
I don’t want the temptation of trying to find Avery when I can’t have her, but if the universe—or a presumptuous sister—wants us to find each other again…
Sighing, I pocket my phone and slip into the room, closing the door—and Avery—behind me.