Page 65 of The Love We Make

Did this mean as much to him as it did to me?

???

“Wake up, sleepyhead.”

I threw a pillow at the direction of the voice and rolled back over.

“Yo, Maddy. We both have planes to catch.”

Damnit. He was right.

I noted he was no longer where I remembered him being—inside of me, behind me, in bed. He was now walking around the suite, his voice telling me he was near the bedroom door.

I chanced a peek up and saw him leaning on the door frame, fully dressed and a hat on backward.

Then it all hit me, we really did have to catch a plane. Different planes. I had to go back to Atlanta and he had to meet the team in Arizona.

Shit.

I sat up quickly, the sheet falling to my waist and exposing my breasts. I instinctually covered myself up and looked at Ethan who was now looking at something invisible on the ceiling.

“Yeah, you’re still naked. I will leave you alone but you have to promise to get up and get dressed.” He was talking but still looking at the ceiling so he didn’t see me nodding my head. “Ok?”

“Yeah, I’m up,” I said softly.

“Sweet,” he pounded the door frame with a fist and closed the door as he left.

I looked around and noticed his bag was packed and all of my things were lying next to my bag waiting for me to pack them how I wanted them. Ethan had obviously been up for a while.

I checked the clock and noted it was 10 am. We had to leave in 30 minutes if we were going to make our flights. So I got up and padded into the bathroom, locking it behind me.

I didn’t plan on a shower. I didn’t really have time. But when I felt the soft trickle down my leg, I immediately remembered that the last thing Ethan had said to me was that he was staying inside of me as long as he could.

My heart started clenching and a sudden urge to cry was brimming over. Not because Ethan had gotten up, but because instinctually, we had fallen right back into being just friends.

I covered myself even though he was now familiar with every part of my body. He had looked up to avoid seeing anything as he addressed our need to leave. He was fully clothed and packed. He shut the door when he left.

Just. Like. That.

I thought we would say goodbye, maybe kiss one last time. I thought it would be harder for him to pull away. But he was back to being “best friend Ethan” and while I knew that was the deal, I still felt the urge to mourn what we had the past few days.

But a deal was a deal. I promised him nothing would change and despite my heart feeling broken by his immediate switch to reality, I was determined to fake it until I made it.

So I hopped in the shower and rinsed every part of him off of me. I got dressed quickly and threw my clothes in my bag. I rolled my bag out to where Ethan was sitting on the couch and coldly told him I was ready. He slid the phone he had been playing on into his pocket as he stood up and nodded.

He grabbed his bag, and mine, and guided us from the room. All without a word. All without acknowledging what we did and what we meant to each other. He was being the same ol’ Ethan. And I played the role of the same ol’ Madison the best I could.

We took a hired car to the airport and checked in at our separate kiosks. Once we made it through TSA, we grabbed coffees and prepared ourselves for our goodbyes.

“Alright, I will be back in Atlanta in two weeks. Then I am leaving again after a week at home for another week on the road.” He was repeating a schedule I already knew and didn’t really need to know.

“Ok,” I answered quickly.

“Ok,” he repeated.

We hugged each other in an awkward embrace, especially for two people that fucked against a window the previous night. He kissed the side of my temple and backed away, a look of indifference on his face.

I gave him a straight smile and waved with just a few fingers before turning around to walk to my gate.