I Saw Our Remaining Meetings Dropped From 31441 To 9 Chapter 17

I Saw Our Remaining Meetings Dropped From 31441 To 9 Chapter 17

The way he was looking at me-so intense, so full of joy-I couldn’t even get the words out.

“Rowan, is the number above my head really, really long?”

I nodded.

His eyes grew wet around the edges. “Rowan, I’m so happy.”

“Before, when Carter talked about it in the dorm, he’d laugh and call you a liar-said you made it up just to cling to him. But I believed it.”

“I never thought you’d lie. I thought you two really were going to be together for a long, long time. So I didn’t even dare introduce myself.”

“But now, I’m the one who gets to see you that many times. I’m so happy.”

My eyes burned.

Miles really had a face sculpted by a god and a brain made of pure gold. Whatever I said, he believed.

Thank god-he believed all of it.

Carter really was moving. Even as he insisted he’d come back, even as his eyes swelled red from

erying the day he left, he couldn’t stop it.

His dad was arrested for embezzlement and bribery. He and his mom had no choice but to flee

overseas.

The day he left, he asked, “How many times are left above my head? We’ll see each other again, right? Rowan…”

Something shattered behind his eyes. Stubborn. Desperate.

“I’ll make money. I’ll pay off the debt and come back. I’ll come back to you. Rowan, what’s the number? We’ll meet again, won’t we?”

I stayed silent, staring at that final 1. I spoke softly.

“Goodbye, Carter.”

I watched the final glimmer die in his eyes. I didn’t want to know if that number meant we’d never cross paths again-or if he had no path left at all.

All I knew was that my 26,235 was right there, waiting for me.