Things you said with too many miles between us
Damn Adam Dalton. Damn him. She was in the middle of a club in Savannah, Georgia where she should be blowing off steam with her friends but instead she was sulking in a corner thinking about the idiot she'd left behind in her apartment in San Francisco. Her friends had noticed too. That was probably the worst part. Jaz had never been one to mope over men. She'd never met one worth it before.
Until Dalton. Until stupid Adam Dalton.
"Oh my god, you have got to start drinking," Hilda said as she sat down next to her and pushed a tequila shot toward her. "I cannot take watching you sit in this corner and pout. I mean normally after you fight with whatever guy you claim to be dating that's when the party really starts."
She sighed and shook her head. "Problem is, I'm not really dating this one. I mean I am, but...I'm not. It's-"
"Complicated?" Hilda asked with a sympathetic smile.
"Yeah," she said with a weak smile.
"There's a reason facebook officially made that a choice for relationship status, chica," Hilda said as she reached over and patted Jaz's arm. "When was the last time you talked to him?"
"The night before we left."
"Damn, you've been freezing him out for three days?" Hilda asked. "How's that going?"
"Awful," She answered as she took the shot of the table and downed it. It burned all the way down. It helped. "We had a fight before I left and even though I'm still pissed at him-God, I miss him. I miss him so much."
Hilda's eyebrows rose. "Oh god, Jaz," her friend said with a surprised look and a soft smile. "I can't believe I'm saying this but...you sound like you're in lo-"
"Don't. Don't say it," Jaz told her as she pointed an accusing finger at her.
"You've avoided it for so long," Hilda said with a teasing grin. "How did this even happen?"
Jaz groaned and held up her empty shot glass. "I need another one of these if we're going to talk about this."
Hilda chuckled at her and took the glass from her hand. "Fine. I'll go get us another round. I have to hear every detail of this. I cannot believe Jaz Khan has finally fallen in lo-"
"Tequila, Hil. I need tequila," Jaz said as she frantically interrupted her.
"One of these times I will finish that word," Hilda threatened with a smile as she walked off toward the bar.
God, she hoped not. She was having a hard enough time even thinking it. Let alone hearing it outloud. Her phone began to vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out to see who was calling her. She gasped at Dalton's name on her screen. He hadn't tried to call her since she left. She bit her bottom lip and glanced at the door to the club. Should she? Was it a good idea to talk to him right now?
Oh, who was she kidding. She missed him so much she didn't even car. She took off for the door and answered the phone as soon as she'd left the music and noise behind her.
"Hello?" She asked. She could still hear a dull thumping in her ear.
"Jaz?"
God his voice sounded so good.
She was pathetic.
"That music sounds horrible," Dalton said with a forced laugh.
"Dalton," she said with a deep breath. It felt so good to say his name again too. "Did you need something?"
"Yeah, actually I did," he said. She could hear nerves in his voice and disappointment.
Why was he disappointed? Did he expect her to gush about how much she missed him? If she couldn't gush to Hilda right now then she certainly wasn't going to gush to him.
"And what is that, exactly?" She asked with a forced huff. She was trying to sound impatient. She was actually ashamed of how badly she wanted to keep him on the phone.
"I wanted to tell you that I don't need any more time. I know exactly what's happened here," Dalton said with confidence.
Her brow furrowed at his use of past tense. Was he ending it?
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" She asked with a sigh.
"I fell in love with you."
She gasped and then shut her eyes tightly. He did not just say…
He said it so simply. Like it was so obvious and easy. Like he hadn't been unsure of them just a few days ago.
"What?" She asked as she swallowed thickly. She had to have heard him wrong.
"I love you," he repeated. This time she definitely heard a small crack in his voice.
She was keenly aware of the joyful tears in her eyes and of the way her heart was hammering in her chest. "You love me?" She asked in disbelief.
He chuckled lightly and she could see him in her mind. Grinning in amusement and shaking his head. "Yes, I do."
She let out a long breath. Suddenly she felt like she'd been holding her breath for days. Like she hadn't taken a single breath since she left him in her apartment. "I love you too."
The word's left her mouth without her having to even think about it. She didn't even know she'd been speaking until she was halfway through. They'd never before been that easy for her to say.
"And of course you're on the opposite coast when we say this," Dalton said dryly. "Why wouldn't you be?"
She laughed softly and let the happy tears in her eyes fall down her cheeks. "How did you-I mean what happened? Just three days ago you seemed so confused."
"You left," Dalton admitted. "That's what happened. The minute you walked out that door everything sucked. It only got slightly better when I realized what that meant and let myself admit it to someone."
She quirked a brow at those words. "You mean besides me?"
"I, um, called Preach."
She laughed loudly. "Of course. It's always Preach."
"We need to send him a fruit basket or something. Isn't that what people do for thank you gifts?"
She smiled brightly and chuckled. "I don't know that Preach would want a fruit basket."
"A fruit basket is more useful than flowers, at least."
"Are those our only two choices?" She asked.
She spent the rest of the night outside the club talking and laughing over the phone with Dalton. Hilda probably had no idea where she was but she didn't care. Not only that, but tomorrow she was going home. She wasn't wasting another day in Georgia. Not after hearing him say those three little words.
He'd surprised her again. He was always surprising her.