Chapter 164

I smile, and he smiles back.

There's a knock on the door, and Miranda calls my name.

“Just a minute,” I shout back, looking at Zayd. He seems … like maybe he's strung a little tight? But a lot of that shame he was carrying is gone. “Did you come here to kiss or to talk?” I ask as I reach up and struggle to get the earring through the hole in my lobe. Zayd scoots closer, and takes over, helping me get them both in.

Once he's finished, he reaches out and cups the side of my face.

“You're leaving tomorrow?” he asks, and I nod. It feels almost bittersweet, like the end of an era. I know that's not true, but there's something about the soft sunshine filtering through the windows, the call of the gulls, and the lapping of the ocean that makes it feel that way. “Then I guess we sort of … need to talk turkey?”

My mouth flattens out into a neutral line, and all that anxiety and angst I've been feeling rises to the surface.

“I just don't understand how you