Chapter Three
Jonathan
She’s here is the only thing I can think. It keeps repeating in a loop in my head, in time with my pacing. She’s here. She’s here. She’s here.
Gabby texted me when she landed, and I’m waiting by the security exit for her to come out. This is the longest separation we’ve had while we’ve been together. I haven’t seen her in a month. A fucking month. Four weeks and three days. I haven’t figured out the hours, but I probably could if I wanted to.
Saying goodbye to her when I took her to the Spokane airport to fly home to Texas was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, even though I knew we would see each other again. But we had nothing planned, so it wasn’t like we could say, “See you in three weeks.” Or even, “See you in August.”
Because by August? Life will be a lot different. She’ll be going back to school. And me? I’ll be promoting my new album before it drops. Then planning a North American tour.
I have no idea how we’ll make it through all that, but I’m determined that we will. And I know Gabby’s on board. Even if I only get her for two weeks right now, we’ll figure it out.
But man, will it ever suck.
Finally. A stream of people starts trickling out to the baggage claim area, and I stop pacing so I can watch for her.
There.
Behind that family with the three kids, her dark hair is pulled around one shoulder in a braid, a cross body bag bumping her hip on one side, her violin case hanging off her shoulder on the other. And I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight than the smile on her face when we make eye contact.
She dodges the family in front of her, then makes a break past the older couple ambling toward the baggage claim, until she’s running to me, throwing herself into my arms. I pick her up, uncaring of the heavy violin case banging into my side, needing to feel her, to touch her, to kiss her, more than I need my next breath.
Four weeks and three days is thirty-one days too long to be without her. Warmth suffuses my chest as her lips press against mine. I want to drown in her kisses and bask in the warmth of her smile. And maybe write a song about this feeling, because that’s what I do with all my big feelings. And this is one of the biggest feelings I’ve ever had.
The sound of a throat clearing on my right reminds me that we’re in the middle of LAX and Gabby’s older sister came with her. Opening my eyes, I press one more kiss to Gabby’s pink lips, and let her slide down till her feet touch the floor. The smile on her face never dims as she moves back a tiny step, just enough so she can adjust the case on her shoulder.
She bites her lip, and I want to bite it too. But I don’t. At least not now. I’ll save that for later. With a glance to the side, Gabby nods toward her sister. “This is Marissa. Marissa, this is Jonathan.”
I follow her gaze to see an older version of Gabby with more makeup—same long, dark hair, same expressive eyes. She gives me an assessing look before extending her hand.
“Nice to meet you after hearing about you nonstop for the last few weeks.”
I glance at Gabby, but she just grins, not embarrassed at all. Good. Shaking Marissa’s hand, I offer a smile. “Nice to meet you too. I’ve been looking forward to meeting your family. I know family is important to Gabby.”
Marissa smirks and releases my hand. “My dad thinks otherwise, since she’d rather be here than at home, but yeah. We’re a pretty tight-knit clan.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Both of you.” I squeeze Gabby with the arm that’s still wrapped around her. “Let’s go get your suitcases. They should be coming out soon.”
Releasing her, I tangle our fingers together. After so long apart, I don’t want to let her go. Marissa falls in step behind us as I lead the way to the baggage claim, content to give us space.
I lean close to Gabby, keeping my voice low. “I’ve missed you.”
She smiles, and her face radiates pure joy. “I’ve missed you too. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait until July to get here.”
“Me too.” I glance over my shoulder at Marissa, who has her phone in her hand. “Is your sister going to give us time alone, do you think?”
Gabby’s cheeks grow a little more pink, and she bites her lip. I can’t help grinning at her, but I can’t blame her. I can’t imagine having to basically ask your older sister for permission to have sex with your boyfriend. But there’s no way in hell that Gabby’s going to be here for two weeks—longer if we can make it happen—without us getting some alone time. I’ll get a hotel room and sneak her out after her sister goes to sleep if I have to. I know she’s been sent by their parents as a cockblock, but Gabby says she’s cool. I hope so.
“We talked about it the other day, and she says she’ll be sure to give us what she called ‘adequate time to get reacquainted.’ I’m not entirely sure how that’ll all work though. What’s she going to do on her own in a strange city?”
We’ve arrived at the baggage carousel just as the light above it starts flashing and suitcases come tumbling down the shoot. Marissa goes to stand closer so she can watch for her luggage, but Gabby and I hang toward the back of the crowd. “She seems like she can look out for herself. What does she think about getting sent as your chaperone for this trip?”
Gabby purses her lips, looking thoughtful as she stares at the people surrounding the carousel. “I think she’s glad for the excuse to get away. She didn’t object at all when Mom and Dad brought it up, and I really thought she was going to. When I asked her about it, she said that she needed a vacation anyway, and if Mom and Dad wanted to pay for her to go to LA to babysit her little sister, then she wasn’t going to complain. When I asked how much babysitting she planned to do, she grinned and told me not to worry, that she’d give us plenty of time for you and me. Then she muttered something about needing to make decisions of her own, and I think I heard Peter’s name.” She glances at me. “Peter’s her boyfriend. And now that I think about it, I haven’t seen as much of him as I would’ve expected to while I was home. Maybe they’re having problems. I don’t know. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own drama that I haven’t been paying attention. Shit. Now I feel like a crappy sister.”
Giving her fingers a squeeze, I bump her with my shoulder. “I’m sure she would’ve told you if she wanted to talk about it.” When Gabby doesn’t look reassured, I try again. “You can always talk to her about it while you’re here. You’ll have plenty of time while you’re staying with her in my apartment while I’m at my parents’ house.”
Her face softens. “I’m sorry about that. You know this isn’t how I wanted this trip to go.”
I give her a shrug. “Don’t worry about it. I’d rather stay there and actually get to have you here than have your parents refuse to let you come at all. It’ll be okay. Maybe I’ll get a hotel for Marissa for a few days so we can stay there together.”
Gabby’s grin is a little rueful. “Yeah, I don’t think she’ll go for that. That’d be too much like lying to our parents, and even if she’s not going to get in our way if she can help it, she’s not going to go that far.”
Before I can respond to that, she lets go of my hand. “Oh. There’s my suitcase.”
I follow her gaze and see the purple suitcase I recognize from when she stayed with me when things went crazy after that first YouTube video went viral. Marissa is pointing at it, but she’s already weighed down by her own carry-on and hot pink suitcase. Gabby hurries, trying to get through the people blocking her way, one hand clutching the shoulder strap of her violin case. I follow right behind her, then get around her at the carousel, waiting for her suitcase to make the circuit around so I can grab it.
With me pulling Gabby’s suitcase and Marissa handling her own bags, we head for my blue Acura. This time I’m leading and Marissa and Gabby are chatting behind me. At the car, I stow their bags in the trunk, even Gabby’s violin. “Really?” I ask, surprised when she hands it to me. Rarely does she let her baby go in the trunk. She either stows it on the floor of the backseat where it doesn’t rattle around too much, or she holds it between her knees in the front.
She just shrugs. “Marissa needs to sit in the back, and I don’t want to hold it for a long time. It’ll be fine if you tuck it in next to the suitcases.”
“Okay.” The weight of her case always surprises me, since a violin is relatively small. But even empty, this sucker weighs eight pounds. With all the music I’ve seen her stuff in the pocket plus the instrument itself and all her accessories, it’s probably over ten. As Gabby gets into the front passenger seat, I tuck it into the space between the suitcases and the trunk where I know it won’t bang around, close the trunk, and climb into the driver’s seat.
“We have just enough time to go to my place and unload your stuff before my parents are expecting all of us for dinner at their house.”
Marissa leans forward in the back, her hand gripping Gabby’s seat in front of her. “Really? Me too?”
I glance back at her as I navigate my way out of the airport and onto the freeway. “Of course. They’re not going to invite your sister and not invite you when you’re both here. That’d be weird, don’t you think?”
She shrugs. “I just wasn’t sure how much involvement I’d have with the two of you. Gabby made it clear you want plenty of time for yourselves.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Well, yeah. But we’re going to be with my family. Hardly time for just ourselves.”
We chat on the drive to my apartment about their flight and what we’ve all been up to the last few weeks. Gabby carries the conversation for the most part, but Marissa interjects every so often. But someone keeps texting her or something, because she’s constantly getting pulled back to her phone. With Gabby’s comment about possible problems with her boyfriend, I’m curious about what’s going on, since every time she picks up her phone, her brows pull together, her expression by turns troubled and annoyed.
It’s none of my business, and maybe this makes me a dick, but I wonder if I can somehow use this to get more time with Gabby than I’d get otherwise with Marissa here as a chaperone. But Marissa doesn’t seem as protective of Gabby as either her parents or her brother, who I finally met in person spring semester. Gabby and I had dinner with Lance and his wife a handful of times. Gabby said he insisted after he found out we’d gotten back together. The first time they had us over, he did that thing where he puffed out his chest and tried to crush my fingers when we shook hands.
But aside from Marissa’s initial assessment, she seems to have accepted me and my place in Gabby’s life. Maybe she’s the only person in Gabby’s family who trusts her judgment.
Right now, I’m just glad that Gabby’s here. With me. Where I can touch her and kiss her, even if I can’t touch her all the ways I want as soon as I’d like. We have dinner with my parents to get through first.
After that?
I have no idea. But I’m determined to figure something out.