My Favorite Souvenir(62)

How could I admit what Brady had told me? I couldn’t. I had to come up with a generic answer that would buy me some time.

“I can honestly tell you it didn’t occur to me even once.” That was technically a truthful statement.

“I figured you couldn’t have known… It’s just so hard to believe this happened.” She blew out a long breath. “Tell me what you did after I left Atlanta.”

“I was in a funk. I missed you…badly. Originally, I was gonna go straight to New York, but I just felt like being home for a little bit first. So I went back to Seattle, spent Thanksgiving with a friend, and also checked in on my apartment and Bach.”

Her mouth curved into a smile. “Bach is your cat’s name?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “He’s been staying with a friend of mine. She’s one of the other teachers and offered to take him in.”

“So you checked in on Bach and then came to New York. What were your plans for after this trip?”

I needed her to know.

“You want the truth?”

“Yeah…”

“These next few months were going to be about biding my time until I got to see you again. I feel like now I may have to hold my breath forever.” I cupped her cheek. “I don’t know where your mind is, Hazel. I can tell you that without a doubt, my plan was to meet you in New Orleans and not to let you go again. But at this point in time, I have no plans. I can’t see beyond today.”

She shut her eyes tightly, looking tormented. “How long are you staying in New York?”

“I keep changing my plans. I’ve extended my hotel a few times and rebooked my flights. Right now I’m supposed to check out tomorrow and fly home.”

A look of panic crossed her face. “What time is your flight?

“Around eight at night.”

“Can you please change it again? Will you stay a little longer?”

I had no idea how to answer that. “As it is, Brady knows something is up with me,” I told her. “He won’t stop talking about how I ditched Kimber the other night. He knows I’m hung up on someone. He just doesn’t know it’s you. I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending to be okay when I’m not, Hazel.”

“We need a bit more time to figure this out,” she begged. “Please…”

I nodded. “Maybe I could tell Brady I’ve decided to explore the city some more.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Please do that.”

Hazel took my hand and led me over to the white backdrop she had set up for portraits.

“What are you doing?”

She smiled. “Humor me for a minute, please?”

After situating me on a stool in the middle of the backdrop and brushing a few wayward pieces of hair out of my eyes, she grabbed a camera from her desk. Raising it to her face, she said, “Smile pretty for the camera.”

“That’s not an easy request these days.”

She lowered the camera, and her playful smile wilted. “I know. But give me whatever you can, please. I want to show you something.”

I stared at her, realizing that even now there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for this woman. Pretty sure if she told me to get up and hop around like a frog, I’d be busy ribbiting on the floor. So I guess forcing a smile wasn’t so bad.

Giving in, I flashed my best pretend smile, and Hazel snapped a bunch of pictures. When she was done, she looked back through the digital shots in the viewfinder and printed one out on an enormous printer in the corner that looked more like a copy machine. Walking back toward her desk, she unzipped a leather carrying case on the floor, took something out of a folder, and came back to where I still sat on the stool.

She held up the picture she’d just taken with one hand, and I frowned. Jesus Christ. Do I really look like that? The best I could describe my expression is that it looked like someone had just told me they’d run over my dog and then forced me at gunpoint to smile. I was about to comment on the photo when she raised the one in her other hand.

The second photo wasn’t of my face, but I was certain it was me. Not because I’d spent countless hours studying my mouth and knew intimately what my teeth looked like, but because one glance at the smile on my face and I knew exactly what I’d been thinking in that moment. My mind had envisioned me lying flat on my back with her sitting on my face. Her pussy was practically smothering me, while my cock was down her throat. Yeah…I definitely remembered that smile. Swallowing, I looked up at her.

“This…” She shook the hand with photo sixty-nine back and forth. “I miss this, Matteo. This beautiful smile and the man who gave it to me so easily and often. You can’t leave…” She held up the other photo. “You can’t leave like this.”

We stared at each other for a long time. Eventually, I nodded. I was confused about a lot of things—how life could have thrown this curve ball our way, if I could ever be that guy to Brady. You know the one. We all have one in our circle of friends. He’s kind of on the outside perimeter, but nevertheless still part of the group. We’re all friends with him, yet we wouldn’t leave our girlfriend who’s had a little too much to drink alone with him either.

Yeah, that guy.

I wasn’t sure if I could be that guy. Though I also wasn’t sure how I could walk away and never look back at this woman again. So I was totally turned inside out right about now. But I knew I didn’t want to leave yet. Hazel and I might not wind up with a happily ever after. In fact, I was pretty certain that wouldn’t be the case. Still, I couldn’t end this story right here.