“Okay,” I agree in a daze.
“Great. It was a pleasure talking to you. Look for that email in your inbox tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.” I shake my head. “Yes. That’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Have a great night, Miss Wright.”
“You too.”
We hang up and I lower the phone, staring into the sun as it’s setting. NASA wants to hire me? I remember when I had their posters up on my walls as a kid. When I thought I’d love to work there. My mom’s idea, she hung those posters.
I look over the rooftop edge, far down at Ink Envy. Dylan’s life is here. We’ve been together for such a short time; we’d never survive the distance. I’m not even sure we would try. But my heart constricts with the thought of losing him. I lift my shirt and look at my tattoo again. It brings me sadness it hasn’t since I got it.
I sit back down at the table, Blanca and Sierra sit up straighter when they see my mood.
“What’s up?” Sierra asks. “Who was that?”
I shake my head as the door to the roof opens and the guys file out. I force a smile, which isn’t hard because Dylan pulls it from me. Now isn’t the time to bring up a potential job that would make me leave Cliffton Heights anyway.
Each guy finds their girl. Ethan places Blanca’s favorite wine on the table.
“Hey, babe, can you draw?” she asks him.
Ethan looks at Dylan. “I fucking hate you.”
Dylan laughs, his face falling to my neck and kissing the skin there. “Sorry, man.”
“I’ll totally draw you a tat,” Jax offers, starting up the grill.
“Yeah, no, you won’t.” Ethan cracks open a beer.
“Call Frankie. She’ll do something,” Dylan says, and Blanca beams.
“Man, you’re turning all the girls on to ink now,” Ethan says.
Dylan nudges me up, sits down, and pats his lap.
“Is that a no to helping on the grill then, Phillips?” Jax asks.
They’ve gotten along a lot better recently, even joking around, and Jax’s become more comfortable in our group of friends.
“I have my hands full.” Dylan whispers in my ear, “I only care about turning one girl on to ink—and all other things.”
Shivers run up my spine.
“For the love of God, can we please have one dinner without the two of you making out?”
Dylan laughs. “Jealous, Sierra?”
“She’s cranky because Adrian is late coming back,” Blanca says.
Seth puts his arm around Sierra. “Want me to be his fill in?”
She shrugs him off and points at us. “Just be prepared—the sex does slow down at some point.”
“Maybe Adrian just doesn’t have the same insatiable appetite I do.” Dylan kisses my neck while his hands massage any body part he can reach.
The man is insatiable, and I love it. But I know what Sierra is talking about. I’ve witnessed it with Ethan and Blanca. Not that they’re not still super into PDA, but they’ve found a routine now—which looks nice too. I like the idea, but I’m not sure how Dylan feels about it.
“Believe me, he does. It’s just the distance that sucks.” Sierra leans back in her chair and pouts.
“It seems like he’s never here,” Knox says. “What’s up with that?”
She sips her wine. “They’re still figuring out how it will all work. His sister taking over, his parents’ divorce. Hopefully after next month, he’s here more than there.”
The whole rooftop quiets except for Jax working the grill.
“Way to kill the mood, Sierra,” Seth says.
She kicks him under the table as her phone dings. Fumbling to pick it up, she finally gets a hold of it, reads it, and stands, downing the rest of her wine.
“No burger for me.” Sierra leans into Dylan and me. “I’m going to get nailed by my boyfriend.”
Dylan laughs.
And she’s gone before any of us can say anything else.
“It’s like they’re in a long distance relationship,” Seth says.
“It’s just temporary,” I say, and Blanca nods in agreement.
Knox leans against the ledge, sipping his beer. From what I know, Leilani left because he said he would never do a long distance relationship. But I’m not even sure Leilani wanted one anyway.
“Fuck that. Never. I couldn’t stay away from you that long.” Dylan’s arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me into him, licking my earlobe.
“Sometimes there’s not a choice. Would you rather lose the person than do long distance?” Blanca asks, probably because we both feel the need to defend Sierra and Adrian.
“Believe me, there’s no way long distance would work,” Seth chimes in. “I mean, sure at first it’s probably great sex when you get together, but then week after week, month after month, you’re witnessing your friends with their significant others and the longing sets in. Soon fights happen because one of you can’t make the trip to see the other. You’re spending a fortune on airline tickets. Phone sex becomes dull and unfulfilling. Long distance doesn’t work.”
We all stare at him.
“You speaking from experience, Andrews?” Jax asks.
“No. Hell, my entire life has been in this town.”
“And Evan Erickson lives here, so how do you know all this?” Ethan asks.
Seth throws his beer cap at Ethan. “You guys can stop with the whole ‘I love Evan Erickson’ thing. I haven’t been friends with her since I was nine. I like my relationships smooth as butter. Creamy as vanilla ice cream. No rocky road for me.”
Silence commences until Dylan clears his throat. “I’m with Seth. Long distance would never work for me.”
I turn to him. I kind of agree, but I won’t say anything because of Sierra. If you love the person, maybe you make it work. Their situation is temporary, they have an end date. But some couples don’t, and I wonder how they make it work.
“I need sex too much,” Dylan says and laughs, most everyone joining in. “And phone sex isn’t gonna cut it.” He smiles at me.
“What if you actually have strong feelings for the person? You’ll throw it all away just because you can’t have sex with them?”
Dylan’s head rears back when he hears my tone. “Is there something you have to tell me?”
“No. I’m just saying sex isn’t the be all end all for a relationship. There are a lot of other things that are more important.” I stand, grab a bottle of wine, and pour myself a glass.
Dylan straightens in the chair. Jax eyes me at the cooler. Whatever. All these men who think that sex is the number one thing in a relationship annoy me.
“So you’re telling me that you don’t enjoy sex?” Dylan asks. “Because I think I have to call bullshit on that one. Being your boyfriend and everything, I’d know.”
“Being your roommate, I can second that,” Jax says. When I send him a scathing look, he turns back to the grill.
I sip a large portion of my wine. “I’m just saying there’s more than sex. There are emotions, and not just the ones when you have sex. It makes me feel like all I am to you is a sex toy.”