“I’m literally a bite away from exploding,” Seth said, taking another bite of the Limoncello cake.

“Boom.” Tara made a mushroom cloud with her hands—all the while looking at him like he was something she couldn’t wait to devour.

Holy Mother of God.

“Should I open another bottle of wine?” he asked like a good host, hoping his friends would take the sensible route.

“Oh, no. It’s getting late.” Aria put down her napkin on the table. “We have to get going. Lucien has a morning meeting tomorrow.”

“Aww, already?” Tara said with genuine regret. She was a much better friend than he was.

“I’m afraid so,” Lucien replied, standing up with his plate in his hands. “You’ll understand when you’re as old as me.”

“Yes, of course. Early fifties is so ancient.” His wife rolled her eyes and reached for the plates as well.

“Stop that,” Seth said, waving away their hands. “You guys did the shopping and the cooking. At least let me clean up.”

“Yeah, you have a long drive back.” Tara backed him up. “I’ll stay and help him clean up. It’s the least I can do.”

“Are you sure?” Aria covered a yawn with her hand.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Seth gave Aria a tight hug before she could fuss anymore. She was truly an excellent human being, and he was going to miss her. Then he turned to Lucien. “It was good seeing you.”

“We had to see you before you left for my old home.” He squeezed Seth’s shoulder.

It hit him that this was really goodbye for a while, and emotion clogged his throat. “I should’ve taken some French lessons from you. I’m going to be that uncouth American when I get to Paris with my awful French.”

“Landon said it was better than your Korean,” Aria said teasingly, grabbing him for another hug. “Take care of yourself. We’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you guys, too,” Seth said into her hair.

He and Tara walked their friends to their car and watched until the taillights disappeared into the night. She placed a warm hand on his shoulder, sensing his distress.

“Dammit. It’s not like I’m never going to see them again.” Seth pulled Tara into his arms and buried his face in her neck.

“Saying goodbye is tough. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she whispered, drawing soothing circles on his back.

“God, Tara. It’s going to wreck me to say goodbye to you.” His voice was a husky rasp, saturated with fear.

Tonight made real to him that he had to leave her soon, and the thought was unbearable. Holding her in his arms felt like home. How the hell was he supposed to walk away from this?

“Don’t say that. We’ll make the best of the two weeks we have left together.” She spoke with quiet determination.

“And how do you suppose we do that? Our first two dates were interrupted by a bunch of rascally kids and a speed-hungry teenager. It’s like the world wants to throw in a monkey wrench before we get too cozy.”