I weave my fingers in his hair, nodding incessantly. “Can we add a full month?”
He chuckles, the sound rich and deep. “Autumn break. Christmas break. Spring break. Next summer.” He lists the periods off like they’re inevitable. “Weekends,” he adds, running his nose over my skin, evoking a smile. “Hell, you can stay at my place whenever you want. I’ll wake you up with an orgasm every day. Bring you coffee in the shower.” He kisses me again. “Keep you supplied with chocolate filled croissants.”
I groan. “They’re so good.”
His laughter tickles my neck, followed by a soft sigh. “They’re going to be up soon to gather our bags.”
I hate the reminder. I’m not ready to move, and less ready to leave. “Don’t say that.” I turn my face, kissing him. It’s quick and playful, leaving the remnants of a smile on his face that has me doing it again and again, and then he’s kissing me and tickling my sides.
His phone on the nightstand buzzes. I want to tell him to ignore it and kiss him again to ensure he’ll listen. But I don’t.
He reaches for it and settles back against me, the movement sliding his cock inside me farther—he’s hard again.
“This is Tyler,” he answers.
I close my eyes, my legs falling open as I lift my hips to feel him move inside me again. He pulls out slowly and then thrusts into me equally slowly. It feels so good I nearly moan. He does it again, his eyes on me as he discusses the number of bags and makes the request that they give us another thirty minutes.
“An hour,” I whisper.
He thrusts into me again, silencing me. He hangs up, tossing his phone to the floor. “You’re trouble,” he says.
I lift my hips, urging him even deeper, and we both shudder. He reaches for the pillow he’d used last night and slips it under my hips, and the pressure of him is so delicious my toes curl. I stretch my hands over my head and close my eyes. Ty pulls me closer to where he’s kneeling in front of me, lifting my legs so my calves rest against his chest, and then he thrusts into me, and I moan out his name, unable to believe my body can feel so amazing. Then his thumb goes to my clit, and I explode around him.
The road to San Francisco is one of our longest drives, and before we even began the trek, we ate breakfast and discussed the potential of staying somewhere else for the night and finishing the drive early to allow plenty of time for my event tomorrow night.
“Hey, Chloe,” Nessie says from the back seat as I read a recent article published about a new super-Earth planet.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Ask Cooper.”
Nessie laughs. “Chloe, truth or dare.”
I sigh. “Truth?”
“If you had to change your degree tomorrow, what would you choose and why?”
I blink back my surprise, expecting something about Tyler or something far more embarrassing.
“Galactic astronomy.”
“That’s the same thing,” Cooper says.
“It’s so different,” I tell him. “Galactic would be studying the Milky Way, and my major is extragalactic, which studies other galaxies.”
“So, you wouldn’t change and do something like become a science teacher or a veterinarian or something?” Nessie asks. “Something that takes less school and physics?”
I grin. “Maybe if I could be like a professional ice cream taster or coffee reviewer. Are those possibilities?”
Nessie laughs. “Absolutely. Let your mind run wild.”
“Okay, then maybe a professional coffee taster slash ice cream taster. What would you do?”
“Travel blogger, remember? You’ll be doing this with me, traveling to taste all your coffees,” Nessie tells me.
“I’d be a Lego designer,” Cooper says.
“What about you, Ty?” Nessie asks.
He shakes his head. “The hotels are all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
Something is comforting in his answer. Maybe it’s the idea of security because he doesn’t want more or different, or the fact they mean so much to him because it’s a huge part of his family’s history and that holds significance to him, but regardless, I find comfort in his answer.
25
Tyler
“This is it,” Chloe says, looking across the line of tollbooths as traffic comes to a stop before we cross the Golden Gate Bridge.
The sun is beginning to set, making the sky appear almost purple. The vibe in the car has been easy today. It’s amazing how in the short period, so much—seemingly everything—has changed, including me. I consider those first hours of our trip when I was debating staying up all night to bomb it to Washington and how all the details and stops and luggage seemed inconvenient and burdensome. And now that only a few days are remaining, I’m dreading the end.
“How many days do we have here?” Vanessa asks, making me question if her thoughts are in the same lane of melancholy and denial as mine.
“Tomorrow’s our only full day,” Chloe says, facing the window as we inch closer to the tollbooth.
“One day?” Disappointment is apparent in Vanessa’s tone, heard louder than her words. “What time does your event start?”
“Seven. But you guys don’t have to go. With us having so little time here, if you guys want to go hang out, I will totally understand.”
“No, we’ll definitely be there,” Vanessa says.
“Just think about it. You don’t have to answer now. Also, if you guys want to do your own thing in the morning since it’s our last city, that’s completely cool with me. I think I’m going to hike to the bridge and then try to see the pier in the afternoon.”
I moved my meetings up to begin at seven in an attempt to get off early tomorrow. I’m hopeful things can get wrapped up by noon so I can spend the afternoon with Chloe, but after how things went in San Diego, I’m reluctant to even mention the possibility.
“Why are you hiking to the bridge? Aren’t we about to cross it?” Cooper
