Catching Lucas Riley (30 page)

“You know,” Alex said as they walked back to her apartment twenty minutes later, hand-in-hand. “You really are so clueless about girls.”

“Undoubtedly,” Sealey replied, nodding seriously. “But how in particular have I made it so apparent this time?”

“I didn’t want time and space, Sealey,” she insisted, shaking her head. “I was worried about you. More than I was worried about
me
, I was worried about you. I thought I’d broken you beyond repair. I thought you’d never talk to me again. You’d think all the ‘I’m so sorrys’ I offered would have clued you in. Yes, being without Lucas hurt, but it was easier knowing I’d chosen it. But being without you . . . I didn’t really choose that part. It was an unfortunate by-product of destroying all your hopes. Or what I
thought
were your hopes at the time. I spent all that time apart thinking about you.”

“I played my part better than I meant to,” Sealey admitted, his teeth flashing white in the darkness. “I can’t believe I managed to convince you so fully that I was in love with Olivia. I hated talking about it, because I was sure I was going to give myself away each time.”

“I could tell you didn’t like talking about her, but I thought it was because you were big and tough and didn’t like to discuss your feelings.”

“You obviously know me a lot better than I know you.” Sealey chuckled ruefully. “I need to work on that.”

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to work on it,” Alex said straightforwardly. “But it will have to be over the phone for a little while.”

“Are you banishing me or something?” Sealey asked, his face uncertain. “Where am I going?”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Alex laughed, rolling her eyes. “But I am. I accepted that traveling speaker series job earlier today. Right before you showed up, actually.”

“Really?” Sealey’s face broke into a brilliant smile and he stopped in his tracks, beaming at her. “I didn’t even know that you got the job! Alex, I’m so proud of you!” He immediately swept her into a tight hug. “This is everything you’ve ever wanted and worked for. This is fantastic!”

“Thank you,” Alex replied softly, her heart warming even further as she contemplated Sealey’s reaction to her news as opposed to what Lucas’s had been. That told her everything she needed to know. That was love.

Alex walked into her living room, a sappy smile on her face as she thought of her conversation with Sealey. She floated blissfully through the apartment and into the kitchen, opening the fridge and staring dreamily into it for a few seconds before shutting it again. She wasn’t hungry. Just happy.

She turned to head for her bedroom and nearly ran straight into Meredith, who had Kacey, Sage, Jaclyn, and Rachel trailing close behind her. All of them appeared to have followed her into the kitchen with confused expressions on their faces.

“What the heck is going on with you?” Kacey asked, shaking her head. “What’s with that schmaltzy perma-grin on your face?”

“Wait, I know, I know!” Sage cried. “Lucas called, right? He and Olivia have broken up and he wants you back!”

Meredith shrieked and grabbed Alex by the shoulders. “Is it true? Did Lucas call?!”

Alex felt disoriented for a second. She’d completely forgotten about Lucas Riley for possibly the first time in an entire year.

“Huh?” she asked, shaking her head slightly to clear it. “Oh, uh, no. Lucas didn’t call.”

Her roommates seemed to deflate before her very eyes. Each face once again took on the look of pity it had been wearing for the past couple of weeks. She was really learning to hate those sympathetic expressions.

“It’s something much better than that,” she said quickly.

“Something better,” Kacey repeated, her look doubtful. “Better than Lucas Riley?” She narrowed her eyes. “You certainly
look
like Alex Foamer, but, seriously, who are you?”

“Alex Foamer has been remade,” Alex replied, her voice dreamy.

“Oh no,” Jaclyn groaned, putting a hand to her face in despair. “I recognize that look. Here we go again. Who’s captured your fancy this time?”

“You’ll never guess,” Alex said slyly.

Her roommates continued to look at her strangely in silence.

“Seriously, Al, what is going on with you?” Meredith finally asked, starting to look truly concerned. “You were approaching zombie status when you left for Thanksgiving, and now you’re . . . just . . . freaking me out.”

Alex smiled warmly at her best friend. “I think I found my fish, Mer,” she said, and her voice sounded so warm and so happy that it almost seemed to heat her from the inside as she spoke.

“You found your what?” Jaclyn demanded, confused, but Meredith caught on immediately.

“And . . . I take it that fish isn’t named Lucas Riley?” Meredith clarified, her mouth turning up at the corners. Relief and excitement mingled on her face.

Alex shook her head slowly with a sly grin.

“Then it must be . . .” Meredith trailed off, looking at Alex with an expression of horror.

Alex nodded.

“
Who
?” Sage demanded, looking frantically between them. “
Who is the gosh dang fish
?”

“Sealey,” Meredith whispered incredulously. “You and
Sealey
?” The expression of disbelief appeared to be permanently cemented on her face.

Alex nodded again, her smile widening even further. “Me and Sealey,” she confirmed.

Her roommates stared at her in stunned silence.

“She’s joking,” Kacey finally muttered to Rachel, who stood beside her. “I mean, she’s totally joking . . . right?”

Rachel just looked at Alex, eyes wide and blinking. Sage looked horrified; Jaclyn looked amused.

But Meredith was pensive. She stood there, biting her lip and considering. Finally, a soft smile began to creep across her face, shining forth in all its glory until she was beaming up at Alex.

“You found your fish!” she exclaimed and stepped forward, throwing her arms around Alex. “I
told
you there were other fish in the sea! I knew there was someone else out there for you! You finally found your fish and it’s Sealey Witchburn!”

Alex called Sealey the minute she received her symposium information packet from Dr. Welch and practically read him the entire thing.

“Okay, now go over the cities you’re visiting again and the dates you’ll be there. Slowly,” Sealey instructed her.

“Okay, why?” Alex asked, laughing.

“I may or may not be calendaring them,” Sealey said, clearing his throat. “No judgment, please.”

“None whatsoever.” Alex laughed again. She couldn’t believe that just a few days before she’d been a mopey, depressed head case. It was amazing what a little bit of romance could do for a person.

Alex slowly read all the cities and dates disclosed in the packet.

“Hey!” Sealey cried enthusiastically. She’d never heard him so cheerful, but instead of making her want to tease him, it just made her want to sync her mood with his. In the last few days, he had become her happy pill. “Houston, we have intersection!”

“What?” Alex asked, confused.

“You’re in Phoenix and then Salt Lake the third week of February and in LA the second week of March!” Sealey informed her.

“I know I am,” she replied, still confused.

“Well, turns out I will be in those cities at the exact same time you are.”

Suddenly it dawned on Alex why he had been calendaring her travel schedule. He had been looking for opportunities to see her during the three months she was gone. The thought turned her into a melty, soppy puddle on the floor.

“Can I request a date for those weeks right now?” she asked. “Or do you have a waiting list?”

Sealey was quiet for a minute, but when he did speak, his voice was full of so much affection that Alex could nearly feel it shining down on her. “I’m all yours.”

A
LEX LEFT FOR
her first symposium location, Boston, in the second week of December. The conference began on the East Coast and would work its way west over the next three months. Sealey insisted on dropping her off at the airport in Salt Lake City, saying he had business in the city anyway. Alex suspected he just wanted the extra couple of hours together before their long separation. She knew she did.

“Knock ’em dead, knockout,” Sealey said, leaning against his black Lexus after pulling her bags out of the backseat. “Call me when you land, okay?”

“I will,” Alex replied nervously. Butterflies danced in her middle, but it wasn’t because of the impending trip. Before she could talk herself out of it, she stepped quickly forward, pressed up against Sealey’s relaxed form, and planted a kiss directly on his lips. Their first kiss.

Whatever he had been about to say died immediately in his throat. After she backed away, he blinked silently at her for a moment before reaching out and pulling her in for a much more substantial kiss. A few minutes later, Alex stumbled into the airport, doubting she would even need the airplane to get to Boston. The way she was feeling, she could probably just float there all by herself.

In the two weeks before Christmas, Alex spent four days each in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. She spent a prodigious amount of
time on the phone with Sealey between her presentations, and it wasn’t uncommon to feel her phone vibrate in her pocket while she stood at the front of an auditorium, lecturing on plant-based diets and nutritional labeling. After her stint in Philadelphia, Alex flew to Malibu to spend the holidays with her family, wishing that she had time to stop off in Utah for a quick Sealey fix.

She exasperated her relatives for three full days, gushing about how much she loved her new job, Sealey, the East Coast, Sealey, her coworkers, and Sealey. Everything about her life felt white-hot shiny bright, and she couldn’t help but bask in the reflected glow. And then, as if things couldn’t get any better, the day after Christmas, Sealey himself showed up.

“What’s up, Foamer?” he asked when she opened the door to see him standing on the porch, hands in his jeans pockets.

She screeched in surprise and threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve really, really, really missed you!” she cried as she squeezed the life out of him.

Sealey laughed and kissed her hard. “Likewise,” he said quietly, his eyes earnest as he stared into hers. And despite her very best efforts, Alex giggled.