The Way Back by Taylor Danae Colbert

Author:Taylor Danae Colbert [Colbert, Taylor Danae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781707954445
Published: 2019-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

6

I slip my boots on and walk out into the blustery wind and snow. I’m shaking, but it’s not from the cold. It’s from years of pent-up emotions now overflowing in the form of nerves.

I step in front of the front door and raise my fist. I hold my breath and knock twice. I wait a beat, shivering in the wind. And then I hear the click and see the turn of the knob.

He’s standing in a t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. His hair is tousled; his eyes are bright.

“Hey,” he says, his voice low. “I was hoping you’d come by.”

I smile, and he lets me inside. He was waiting for me. I look around the room. It’s been so long since I’ve been in here. The last time I was here was the last time I knocked, late at night. He let me in. We kissed. We even ended up on the bed. But then he broke down. He pushed away from me physically, and then I felt him pull away emotionally. And then, a few days later, he left.

I know all that. I know what I’m risking, getting my hopes up, being here with him again tonight. But right now, I don’t care. Right now, a few moments with him is the only thing I know that can fix me.

“I obviously don’t have the fridge stocked like I used to,” he says with a shrug. “But if you’re hungry, I can sneak back in the house and steal you something.” I chuckle and sit down on the small loveseat.

“I’m good, thanks.”

He sits down next to me, leaving just enough space that would make it clear who made the first move. If any move is actually made tonight.

“I’m glad you came by,” he says. “I actually have something for you.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“You...what?”

He stands up from the couch and walks over to the corner of the room and kneels down next to the bed. He picks up a small box wrapped in wrinkled, shimmering paper. He walks over and sets it down on the couch next to me. There’s masking tape all over the green-and-red paper, so much so that I’m not sure I could get it open if I tried.

“If you can’t tell, I wrapped it myself,” he says with a shy chuckle.

“What...what is this? You didn’t need to get me anything,” I say, feeling my heart rate accelerate again.

“Just open it,” he says. I swallow and tear at the paper, letting it fall to the floor.

My eyes open wide again as I stare down at the small village piece in my hands. It’s a tiny park scene, complete with a frozen pond and a little bench, just like the one we sat on just last night.

“Oh my…” My voice trails off.

“I thought it looked like Elbert Park,” he says. “I didn’t want you to miss a year. I thought Graham would want to keep the tradition going.”

I’m completely speechless. In just a day and a half, Liam has somehow managed to mend pieces of me that I thought were broken beyond repair.

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