Seven Weeks to Forever (Love / Romance)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Countdown to The Life-After: two weeks.

I was a morning person for most of my life as Anna, rising early to jog along the beach and watching golden light streak the sky as the sun came up. I loved the peace in the space between darkness and dawn, and weekend mornings were my favorite.

Even now when I wake up early enough on a weekend day, the world feels like my own. There's a stillness in the morning that holds an entirely different kind of energy than is usually found here in The Before. I felt it during my time here as Anna, even though I knew nothing about energy then.

The early hours cleanse me somehow. I jog along the sand, listening to the ocean waves crash to the shore and taking in every detail. This is the beach I'll come to on the morning I leave for The Life-After. Sunlight licks at the edges of the sky. I breathe in the salty air that's already warming in the daylight.

I jog for about a mile before I see a figure far off down the beach, moving closer toward me. Even from this distance, and even with sunglasses shielding his eyes, I recognize him.

"Riley?" I call out.

He looks up and I can tell I've startled him. When he sees me, he slows to a walk and raises his arm, waving once.

"Hey," I say, when I get closer.

"Hi," he answers. I expect a hug, but he puts his hands on his hips and turns his head to the ocean. There's a look on his face I can't quite figure out. He's probably thinking about The Satellite, since we haven't hung out since then. It's been a week. I know that's what I'm thinking about.

"I didn't know you came out here to run," I say. He turns his head back to me.

"I usually don't." The look on his face is still there.

"It's a nice place for it," I comment. He nods. I wish I could see his eyes, but they're hidden behind his sunglasses.

I take a drink from my water bottle, not knowing what else to do. After swallowing my mouthful of water, I study him. His lips are pressed together and his jaw looks like it's clenched. I tune in to his energy to see what else I can find. The sparks of color I see are about what I expected. He's uncomfortable and maybe even a little anxious. I guess I have my brilliant comment about him kissing me one day to thank for that. Genius. He probably regrets repeating it back to me. I did this, and now I have to undo it.

"Want to run with me?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure." His arms still look a little stiff at his sides.

"Is everything okay?" The question slips out of my mouth even though I probably shouldn't ask.

"Yeah," he says again, and tries to smile at me. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

I give him a small smile in return and start jogging in the direction he came from. He keeps pace at my side, both of us moving in silence for about half a mile.

"Did you have a good time the other night?"

I jump at the sound of his voice, stumbling over my feet. Nothing but grace over here. Riley's hand shoots out to steady me and we both slow down a little.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

I wave it off, even though that's exactly what happened. "I was just off on another planet somewhere." A planet decorated like it's space alien Christmas in 1972. It counts.

We round the side of a cliff. I can't see the part of the beach we came from anymore. This is like some private little cove. Riley slows to a walk and I do, too. I can tell he's still waiting for an answer.