“Didn’t expect to see them up here,” I say. “Are you going to this all-staff town hall meeting?” I ask, trying to distract her.

“Of course I am,” she says, and nods back in the direction she came from. We both head off together, and I can’t help wondering if Patricia was just coming to find me to ask about my connection to Byron’s friends. “Wouldn’t miss it,” she says. “I hear they’re updating the move-in date for staff housing. The storm damage hasn’t set them back as much as expected. I bet you’re up here by the end of the week.”

I should be excited about getting a space of my own—a place that’s close to work that will provide an instant friend network. But there’s one thing the staff accommodation won’t have.

Byron.

I’ll miss him. Yeah, the sex is great. Scratch that—the sex is spectacular. But I’ve never felt so open with someone. So free. It feels like I can’t help but show him my entire soul, and he doesn’t want to look away. It’s a kind of intimacy I’ve never experienced before, and it’s going to be difficult to say goodbye. For me, at least.

I’ll get to see glimpses of him from time to time when I’m on shift. But I won’t be able to trail my fingers all over his body. I won’t be able to watch his ass as he cooks ragu.

The move will be the clean break I need. And what Byron needs too. It may not have been spoken between us, but we both know that whatever we have comes to an end when I move up the mountain.

“You okay?” Patricia asks.

“Sure,” I say. “Just nervous about this meeting. They don’t ask us questions, do they?”

Patricia laughs. “You’ve been quizzed by Hazel one too many times. No, this is a chance for us to ask them questions. I want to know if staff can expect our own gym facility soon. I figure it’s good to have a healthy work force. It will benefit them in the long run, right?”

“Right,” I say.

“Are you going to ask anything?”

I shake my head. I’m going to focus on not imagining Byron between my thighs, making me come. I’m going to try not to think about drinking hot chocolate with him, playing pool with him, the way he calmed me when we had to evacuate to the shelter. I’m going to try to imagine a time when we’re not sleeping together. When we don’t know each other anymore. And I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it together.