Hearts in Extra Time (An Atlanta Skyline Novella) by Rebecca Crowley

Author:Rebecca Crowley [Crowley, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebecca Crowley

Seven

Buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz. Aaron glanced at Stella’s phone, vibrating unheeded in the center cup-holder while she stared out the car window.

“Do you need to get that?”

“They’ll live,” she replied without turning her head.

He returned his attention to the highway, the tension inside the small car thickening by the second. He hadn’t expected their last day together to be full of sunshine and rainbows, given each mile they covered brought them closer to the drudging obligations of their separate lives. He wasn’t sure exactly how he thought today might play out, but one thing was for sure: it wasn’t like this.

Last night had been… Did he even know a word to describe it adequately? Awesome. Fantastic. Spec-fucking-tacular. Their lovemaking—and that’s what it had been, not just sex—stretched into the early hours, a soft, mostly unspoken cycle of closeness, touch, excitement, passion, explosion, and then back to that quiet, intimate closeness. He’d never been with someone who made him feel so open, so understood, with hardly a word exchanged.

In the morning everything changed. Neither of them remembered to set an alarm so they woke to the manager banging on the door to triumphantly inform them they’d missed their checkout time and would be charged on an hourly basis until they left. They packed hastily, barely speaking, suddenly unsure with each other, the sweet vulnerability of the night before hardening into wariness in the weak winter sunlight. Stella swore so hotly when her phone announced they had another five hours of driving ahead that he’d opted not to suggest they stop for breakfast. Now he was hungry, tired, and getting the cold shoulder.

They still had a four-hour drive to Atlanta. The last thing he wanted to do was open a probing, emotional dialogue about where they stood, because as far as he was concerned, this whatever-it-was between them was nearly over. Of course he felt a little down about that. Stella was sexily smart, completely hilarious, and the hottest bed partner he’d ever had, which was a seriously high bar. Even her neuroses were oddly endearing.

But he didn’t do long-term, or medium-term, or even friends-with-benefits where he knew the other party would start to creep over the line. Stella was a blatant line-creeper, and she knew it, too. Not once had she suggested they try to keep this going after they got to Atlanta, or attempted to persuade him into a relationship, and he respected the hell out of her for it.

He also found it weirdly disappointing.

Except that wasn’t the point. The issue now was this crappy atmosphere and his permanent view of the back of her head. They’d be stuck in this car for most of the day and he didn’t intend to spend it in silence.

He sighed, exasperated. “You won’t talk to me, and now you won’t talk to anyone at work. What’s up?”

“I’m talking to you.”

“Stella,” he said firmly enough for her to finally glance his way. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugged, her focus drifting back to the window. “You know how it is.

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