Page 71 (1/1)

Another topic I hadn’t exactly covered with Arthur We were both excellent at avoiding any mention of the future and any plans later than my next day off “So? It’s not like we don’t travel for work ourselves”

“Exactly” Calder pointed at ht me in a lie “Because he’s always been absolutely ada distance I’m not sure exactly what sort of kiss-drunk spell you put on hiet he hates the navy, but eet okay with the ht back with your next deployment”

And there Calder went, hitting est fear It didn’t matter how hard I fell for Arthur My job would always be the stuether Eventually Arthur would stop being patient, and that goodbye I was already dreading would come But I also couldn’t let Calder see that dread

“You don’t know that And besides, we’re still working things out as we go Long-tere to avoid Maybe if we continued to take things one day at a ti-term Accidentally uncover a way to have forever It could happen, and I tried to ht noe’re having a great tiether, and he makes me happy Really happy”

That part was true, a little too true Arthurfro to his latest composition made oing to give that happiness up before I absolutely had to

“That’s so guy with a single pinprick “And I want you both happy I do I sionna get hurt”

“Let me worry about that,” I said with h et, under worries, namely that while Arthur was perfect forselfish in keeping our relationship going Me getting hurt was inevitable and a price I illing to pay, but Arthur hurt was a whole different story

“Like you worried about Steve?”

Another dart, right to the chest, but I only gritted my teeth “Arthur’s not Steve”

“No, he’s not Unlike the cheating snake, he’s a good guy who’s not gonna double-cross you But you’re on the rebound, vulnerable, and I’ a future that’s just not there because you’re trying to make up for what you lost”

Fuck Was Calder right? Was this all simply me on the rebound? Not real emotions? I didn’t want to believe that “I didn’t lose anything with Steve We were never going to make it, and I see that now What I feel for Arthur is different”

It was I’d never felt this intensely about Steve, never lain awake plotting what I wanted to talk with him about the next day, never raced to be able to send his siether That wasn’t a rebound fling, it was—

“Chief Fox” Grauys fro for you So”

“On it” Whatever the e to be good

Chapter Thirty-Two

Arthur

“Do you want to tellyou?” I finally asked as we approached the exit for Oliver’s neighborhood He’d been quiet and moody ever since I’d met hi on the radio as soon as we’d hit traffic, not even joking about ’s the matter, my mom will for sure be able to sense your mood, and she’ll ferret it out of you Not to mention the kids”

Bringing up the kids was so of a lo, but I was desperate for him to talk

“Later” Derrick gave me a strained sht now You deserve better”

“You’re not terrible I like being with you even when you are quiet and gruh And I’d help if I could” Sabrina’s point about how this was more than sex pricked atupset made me upset, made me want to fix whatever it was for him