Just Say Yes (Just Say Yes #2) (7 page)

“I know, and I’m not mad at you. It’s going to be a long month. That’s all.”

Tell me about it.
“For you
and
me,” I sighed.

He stirred and I raised my head so he could roll to his side and face me. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel bad for leaving. I feel like an asshole about last night. I want you to have a good time and take all the time you need. Remember, you were going on this vacation for a reason.”

“Yes, I remember.”
How can I forget?
I was stressed out and the accident had made my life extremely unbalanced again. It seemed like for every good thing that happened, something bad followed.

My mind drifted back to the memory of being dressed up in pretty lingerie for my special night with Andy. Because of my injuries, he’d flipped out and I threw him out of my apartment. I shook my head to get the memory of the devastating night out of my thoughts because it still hurt to think about his rejection of me.

Once again, I was overwhelmed. Andy knew it, and I knew it. I needed a break from my life. I didn’t want to leave him because it felt like our relationship was hanging by a thread about to snap, but I knew if I didn’t take some time to de-stress, I would be no good to either of us. It would take a while to deal with all the crap that I allowed to build up for months, not to mention all the new issues between Andy and me.

Things were better since Andy came in to my life. I was seeing Dr. Jensen again, but I still needed some time away, especially after the accident. Plus, I didn’t want to become codependent on Andy. It was crucial for me to take care of myself for once.

I realized that I didn’t even know who I was. Right then, I decided the sole purpose of my trip to Cabo was to find out.
Have I ever known who I truly am?

“You know I love you, right?” I asked him, to break the silence. He nodded. “Try to think of this time apart as a way to get to know each other even better. We can talk all the time on the phone and you can use your new laptop so we can see each other on Skype. Just don’t go finding someone else, okay?” I teased.

“Zoey, don’t say things like that,” he said, obviously irritated, but I knew he immediately regretted his words. “I’m sorry. I’m really tired. Can we just go to sleep, please?”

“Good night, then. I love you.” I kissed him softly on the lips then watched as he rolled away from me to go to sleep. I didn’t want to leave on a bad note, so I let it go.

The next morning, my alarm went off at eight, but most of the night I had stayed awake. Andy hadn’t slept much either. He tossed and turned as much as I did. When I rolled over to get up, he was gone. My heart sank, but I didn’t have time to worry about what he was doing or why he wasn’t there. I took a shower and dressed in some comfy traveling clothes.

After I was ready to go, I found him sitting at the dining room table, staring down at a cup of coffee. He was wearing only a pair of faded jeans, all his golden, muscled, tattooed skin on display…it was going to be a long month.

He looked up at me when I walked in. “Hey,” he said quietly as he ran his hands up and down his jaw line. I sat next to him at the table and he slid his coffee cup in front of me. I took a long swallow of it then set it back in front of him.

“Are you okay?”

“I have a headache,” he said with an unsteady voice.

I went to the kitchen and returned with a couple of Ibuprofen. I offered the pills to him and watched as he popped them in his mouth without even looking to see what I gave him.

“Thanks. Can I at least drive you to the airport?” he asked warily.

“Andy…” I trailed off. My brother Noah was driving us to the airport so he could see his fiancée, Jess, off.

“How about you pick me up at the airport when I come home? We already planned everything out and I don’t want to change anything at the last minute. Do you want to ride with us to the airport?” I asked, feeling bad that he was disappointed.

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.

“I need to eat something before I go. Are you hungry?”

He nodded then propped his elbows on the table and rubbed his temples to try to relieve his headache. I dropped two sliced bagels into the toaster and fixed a cup of coffee for myself while I waited. When they were ready, I spread cream cheese on them then put them on plates.

When I turned around to take them to the dining room, Andy was leaning against the countertop with his hands shoved down in his front pockets. He was barefoot so I hadn’t heard him when he came in.

“Sorry for being a dick,” he said. “I’m going to miss you. A month is a long time.”

I set down the plates and went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I laid my cheek on his bare, tattooed chest and breathed him in one last time. His skin was cool on my warm face and he smelled like heaven.

“You’re forgiven,” I replied as I planted a kiss on his chest.

We broke our embrace and sat down to eat our bagels. “So…what are you going to do on your trip, Zoey?” he asked.

Okay, he’s trying.
I thought about it before responding. “We planned on doing all the touristy things while the three of us are in Cabo for the week. Depending on the weather, we might go snorkeling one day. Definitely horseback riding, shopping, and lounging around on the beach,” I laughed. “You know, girl stuff—”

He pushed his chair away from the table as he popped the last of his bagel in his mouth then went into the kitchen to wash his plate. A few minutes later, he came back in with James. He sat down, putting James on his lap, scratching down his back and behind his ears.

Although I was surprised by what he had just done by getting up and leaving the room when I was mid-sentence, I chose to ignore it. I was leaving as soon as my ride arrived so I didn’t want to start a discussion about his abnormal behavior at that point.

“What are you going to do while I’m gone?”

This time, he gave a different answer than the last time I’d asked.

“I have a few changes I want to make on my car before I start racing this year. I thought about going back to Sonoma for a weekend to visit my aunt and uncle.”

“That’s a great idea. You haven’t seen them since you moved and I’m sure they’d love to see you.” I wanted him to keep busy so he wouldn’t be so moody while I was gone. We talked a while longer about the changes he wanted to make to his car.

The buzzer rang on the intercom while we were talking.
Shit, it’s time to leave.
I hopped up and pushed the intercom button. “I’ll be right down,” I called. “Get dressed. You’re coming with me to the airport, remember?”

Andy took James to the laundry room and came back to the living room fully dressed. Since the accident, he’d practically moved in with me, so I had given him his own drawers and space in my closet.

Andy met me at the door. “Zoey,” he started, looking down at me with his somber blue eyes. “Have a great vacation. I’ll miss you, but we’ll talk every day. Call me
anytime
. I don’t care what time it is, even if it’s the middle of the night and you can’t sleep or don’t feel well,
call
.”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around him as my lips found his. We kissed until the buzzer rang again.

“Freaking persistent-ass people,” I muttered. I hugged him again and laid my head on his chest for another moment.

Why did this feel like we were saying goodbye, as in, we weren’t going to see each other again? The mood was intense and I didn’t like it one bit. He picked up my suitcase for me while I grabbed my purse and laptop bag. Slowly, we made our way down the stairs to meet Jess, Sasha, and Noah, to drive to the airport.

Andy and Noah couldn’t go with us once we checked in, so we were forced to say our farewells shortly after we arrived.

I hugged my brother while Andy said bye to Jess and Sasha. I heard him say, “Take care of my girl for me. Make sure she eats, takes her pills, and rests, please.”

They agreed then sandwiched him in a bear hug that had them all laughing. He returned their embrace, hoisting them both up. They were so short, their feet dangled in midair as he held them tightly.

Noah and Jess said their goodbyes while Andy and I said ours. I made it brief because I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to change my mind about going. We’d said everything we needed to say to each other over the last two days we spent together, so I hoped it would be enough.

He held my face in his hands and gave me one last kiss. “Remember, Zoey, call me anytime. Have fun and be safe. I love you.”

I nodded. “I love you. You can call me anytime, too.”

As we walked toward security, Andy and Noah stood watching us until we couldn’t see them anymore.

Our trip would be my first time away from Andy and it would be Jess’s first trip away from Noah. Their goodbye was much easier on them. They were going to be married in June and spending the rest of their lives together. They didn’t have all the distance between them that Andy and I had.

Sasha was the first to break the silence while we stood in the security line. I was glad she spoke up because I was getting more anxious the closer we came to our departure terminal. Darkness clouded my mind because my leaving was going to affect my relationship with Andy. It felt like a ‘make it or break it’ situation.

“You lucky bitches. I need to find myself a man like the two of you have,” Sasha grumbled. Her comment instantly brought back the memory of my friend Ben asking for her number.

“Sash, did you get a call from Ben?” I asked, remembering I gave him her phone number during one of our rehearsals for the anniversary party back in December.
Shit. I cannot believe I forgot about giving him Sasha’s number.

“Ben?” she asked, confused.

“Yeah, Ben Ellis. He asked me for your number a while back. Did he not call you?”

She sighed and seemed a little upset. “No, he did not.”

I felt bad because I brought it up and now she knew he was going to call her but didn’t. I pulled out my cell and shot him a text asking why he never called her. We made it through airport security and went to find a seat at our terminal. We sat for a while talking about what we wanted to do while we were in Cabo.

My phone pinged with a text from Ben. He apologized for not calling Sasha. He let me know the band became busy, but he was going to call her right then to see if she wanted to go out to dinner with him. I sent him a text back telling him she was with me and on her way to Cabo for a week.

Sasha’s cell rang as soon as I hit send. She almost hit the ignore button when she didn’t recognize the phone number calling her.

“Answer it. It’s Ben,” I ordered her, with a sneaky grin.

She curled her fingers into a fist and gave me a teasing look, as if she wanted to punch me. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled at her. Secretly, I knew she was thrilled I’d given him her number. She finally answered her phone and pretended she didn’t know he was calling. Apparently wanting some privacy, Sasha stood up and walked to the windows to watch the planes take off.

Since we made it through security quickly, we had thirty more minutes to wait for our plane. Jess was engrossed in a book she’d been reading for a few days and Sasha was still on the phone with Ben. I took out my iPod and started the new Snow Patrol album I’d bought prior to our trip. I reached inside my purse and picked out a new book to read.

We were going to be on a plane for five hours, with a quick stop in Phoenix where we had to change planes. I quickly immersed myself in my book and before I knew it, Jess was standing in front of me mouthing something. I yanked out my earbuds so I could hear her.

“They just called our flight, Z. Let’s go! Let’s go!” she squealed.

Why did I have such an achy, empty feeling in my gut? Even though things were strained, Andy was the best thing to happen in my life, aside from my adoption, and I left him.

“Quit thinking about him. You need to do this for yourself,” Jess said as she grabbed my hand and yanked me out of my chair. “Shit. Sorry, Z, I forgot about your bruises. Did I hurt you?”

I laughed so hard I had to hold on to my stomach to stop it from hurting.