Chapter Twenty-Five
Bodie
Things have been weird with us the past couple weeks .
Bryce has been a little distant. He told me he went to see his mother, and they talked about his father’s accident.
He was relieved to finally get all of it off his chest, and apparently so was Diane, but there still seems to be something throwing us off.
I know it’s probably us living apart that’s weighing so heavily on his mind, but we’ve worked out a plan to see each other as often as possible. I just hope it’s enough.
Tonight, I’ve made a special dinner for us, hoping that we can spend some quality time together and reconnect.
“Hey.” Bryce rushes through the door, startling me.
“Fuck, Oz. Don’t do that.” I can’t help but laugh at myself for getting startled so easily.
“Sorry, I was just a little excited.” His long strides end with his big arms wrapped around me as he spins us around.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“What?” I push him back to meet his gaze. “What do you mean?”
“I’m coming to Raleigh with you. If you want me to, that is.” His forehead wrinkles before I can answer.
“Of course, I do, but how? What about Mom and work?”
“I discussed it with the managers, and they both agreed to switch me to the Raleigh location for three days a week as a trial. I’ll still come back to work here on Mondays and Wednesdays during the weeks you’re out of town.
If I work Thursday through Saturday in Raleigh, it works out perfectly for me to stay a few days with Mom and Calisse. ”
“How did you convince them to do this?”
“It didn’t take much convincing.” Bryce shrugs. “They were down two bartenders in Raleigh. Calisse knew already after talking to them earlier last week. It was all her idea.”
“Remind me to buy her a really nice Christmas gift.”
“The only caveat is I have to stay until they find a viable replacement and train them if needed.”
“How long will that take?”
“Depends on who we can find, but I have someone in mind.” Bryce’s nose scrunches. “Is something burning?”
“Oh shit.” I turn around to find blackened onions and peppers in my pan. “Fuck, I ruined them.”
“You made fajitas?”
“Yeah, I know how much you love them.” I throw the towel on the counter as I scrape out the pan. “I think I had the flame on too high.”
“We can salvage this,” Bryce says as he opens the fridge, taking out another onion and pepper. “You wash that mess of a pan, and I’ll cut these up.” His warm lips against mine have my shoulders relaxing as I breathe him in.
“Just like how you fixed everything that was wrong,” I whisper as he turns to the island.
“We’re fixing it together, beautiful,” he says over his shoulder with a wink and a crooked grin. “As a team.”