Page 95 of Come Take Me Now

“Look, I’m heading back to Sacramento. I had to see you. Just to make sure you’re okay.”

He forces a laugh. “I’ll never be okay again.”

I keep my gaze low. “You will.” I pause and gesture to my torso. “Want your shirt back?”

“Fuck, I’ve missed you, Bee.”

“I’m not back…I’m going home. Things got crazy this summer.”

“I can’t stop you,” he adds, thoroughly defeated by me, out of his control.

“I know. I just have to get the fuck out of Napa. Even if my mom isn’t home.”

He furrows his eyebrows. “What do you mean she’s not home?”

I just shrug. “She’s on her anniversary trip with my stepdad for a week.”

Enzo scratches his jaw. “You shouldn’t be alone. Not after your dad hurt you. It’s probably too forward, but I’ve given you space this week. I wanted to reach out but didn’t know how or what to say.” He pauses, and my eyes meet his again. “I don’t know. You could stay in my guest room for a few days until they get back.”

I shake my head. “I’m not going to stay in your guest room, Enzo.”

“Or the couch. Whatever you want.”

“Fuck, I’m a hypocrite. You make me crazy, Enzo!”

“Why?”

“Because I just want to be back in your bed,” I quietly but confidently reply.

“After the shit I put you through?”

“It’s fucked up, but for the past week, I’ve been looking over my shoulder. Hoping you’d be there.”

“I’ll always be there for you. Maybe not physically, but you have to know I’ll always have your back,” he replies.

“I want you there…for everything,” I breathe.

“I’ll try my best,” he adds with a faint laugh. “We should probably go inside before my neighbors gossip, and we’re both going to burn in this damn sun.”

I follow him up the short pathway to the front door. Stepping into the foyer, I thought I’d never see this place again, and my eyes land on the little table in the hallway where my favorite pair of running shorts sit neatly folded. “I thought these were lost forever,” I say, grazing my fingers over the smooth fabric.

“No, I would have gotten them back to you somehow,” he replies. “I know how much you love them.”

His place is even tidier than I remember. Maybe he’s been rage cleaning, or it was me cluttering his space the whole time. Either way, he never seemed to mind.

“So, how are you?” I ask, following him into the kitchen.

He turns to face me with a plain expression painted on. “I stayed clean, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It’s not, but I’m proud of you,” I reply.

“Well, I smoked pot, but I don’t really count that.”

I let out a quick laugh. “I could use that.”

“Don’t blame you.” He lightly touches his lips and glances back at me. “Um, I feel like I have no business asking this, but it’s kind of my business.” He pauses again to read my face. “Are you pregnant?”

I bite my lower lip and release it from my teeth. “My period just ended.”