Chapter 329

“OK,” Cassidy said as we headed through the boat to the back living area. “So Becca told me that she was expecting it to be a two hour ride back to the rental place, but with the delays and everything we were going to need to motor it, which means we have about an hour and a half left.”

Cattie, Terra and I all groaned as we flopped onto the couches. “What about packing?” I asked.

“You and I are all packed up,” Cassidy said. “I took care of it while you were out. Cattie, I think you’re almost done but I wasn’t sure if you had a specific way you wanted to handle stuff.”

“I’ll take a look, it shouldn’t take me long,” Cattie said.

“I still need to pack, and take care of JC’s stuff too since he’s piloting the boat,” Terra sighed.

“Where are Wanda and Ami?” I asked.

“Up top catching some sun,” Cassidy said. “Which means there is some privacy if...?”

Terra gave me a look, but I could see both her desire and her hesitation - JC was distracted but not distracted.

“Come here, honey,” I said, signalling to her, and she got up out of the chair and climbed up onto the couch straddling me. I scooped some hair behind her ear. “I’m not going to be able to give you the goodbye I’ll want when we’re leaving. So I guess we need to do it now.”

She took a breath and let it out, nodded. “I- Robbie, it’s fucking wild dude, but you’re the one. You turn me on like I can’t fucking believe, you make my heart beat so hard it hurts, and I get butterflies in my stomach every time you look at me. I’m going to miss you so damn fucking much.”

I pulled her in, squeezing her tight in a bear hug. “I’m going to miss you so damn fucking much too, honey. I feel so, so lucky that we met you. You’re an amazing friend, a fantastic person, a gorgeous, sexy little bundle of energy, and I love you.”

“I love you too, Tiger,” she said, squeezing me back.

We sat there, holding each other for a good long time before Cassidy crashed into us from the side, joining the hug. Cattie got up and came around, sitting on the arm of the couch next to me and joining the hug as well.

“Thanks for helping talk stuff through with me, and letting me in,” Cattie said. “I’m really glad that we met too, and I’m so happy that you and I both get to have Robbie in our lives.”

I could feel Terra heaving a little, not sobbing or crying, but just reacting physically to the amount of love we were feeling. Cassidy brushed more of her hair out of her face and leaned in and kissed Terra’s cheek. “I can’t wait to have both my besties move in with us,” she whispered.

The hug lasted a while, until finally Cassidy pulled away while wiping under her eyes and Cattie followed suit. That left me and Terra holding each other and as she sat up I took her face in my hands and wiped the single tear trail from her cheek with my thumb. “You’re ours now,” I said. “Mine. It’ll feel like too long, but we’ll handle it and you’ll be with us soon enough.”

We all took a moment to just breathe, and Terra finally broke and laughed. “God, we’re all so soft.”

“You deserve to be soft sometimes,” Cassidy said. “Especially when saying goodbye.”