Going The Distance Book Novels & Stories

That is the entire reason the distance is becoming so difficult to maintain. Maya stands alone in the yard after he disappears into the dark. Usually, this is where she files the thought. She places it in the correct drawer, closes the drawer, and moves to the next practical item before the thought develops needs of its own. Tonight, she does not. She lets it remain. What would it actually mean to stop keeping the distance? To walk through the door rather than guarding it? To let the easy thing remain easy without dismantling it to discover the catch?

“Where are you?” “Moving.” “Alone?” “Yes.” “That’s changing.” “No,” she replied immediately. “You cannot involve yourself directly now.” “I already am directly involved.” “You don’t understand. If they think we’re connected emotionally, they’ll use it.” “They already are.” “And that’s exactly why you need distance.” William almost laughed at that, but there was no humor in him anymore. “You still think distance changes outcomes,” he said quietly. “It changes leverage.” “No,” he replied. “It changes fear.”

I close the distance in three steps and grab her face and kiss her and she makes this sound against my mouth, desperate and relieved all at once, like she's been holding it specifically for this moment, and her fists twist into my shirt and she pushes up onto her toes to get closer and I walk her backward toward the wall because I need something solid behind her for what comes next. She goes willingly. More than willingly. Her hands are already pulling my shirt loose from my waistband before her back even hits the wall, already working, already done with patience, and I think about eighteen months of careful distance and I think good riddance. Arc 2: My Rival's Girl continues in Chapter 6...