Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
My brother is such an asshole.
“He said to keep on the road until we got to another turning,” Tor says. “It’s a long route up some windy fucking dirt path but it’s fine. No difficulties.”
Suddenly there’s no air.
Tor’s voice goes like treacle as I try to breathe, backing away down the corridor. I don’t care that there’s another way out. I don’t care that he was trying to keep me here. I wanted to be here. But he lied to me.
How can I ever trust a man that would lie to me about something like this?
He saw how worried I was, how I wanted to contact my friends and tell them that I was okay. And instead of telling me that we could get out of here and back to the hotel, he kept it from me. Truth is, that’s not even what’s breaking my heart right now.
The dream is over. The fantasy washing away.
I have a huge life back home. He lives like a hermit crab in this island paradise. Vacation flings feel great until the vacation is over.
I don’t even realize I’m crying and collapsing on the floor until Tor is holding me up, staring into my face.
“Sis? What is it?”
I bat his hand away and pull back. “I’m…I’m fine. I’m…”
Not fine at all.
My whole world feels like it’s crashing down. The life I’d imagined I could have, the love, it’s all just been ripped out of my chest, leaving a gaping wound that I don’t think will ever heal. I’m terrified that maybe this could have worked but more terrified to find out, that it never would.
“Get me out of here,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. If I see Chance again, I know I won’t think straight. I’m horrible for leaving, but he shouldn’t have lied. “Just get me out of here, please. Take me…” The word sticks in my throat as I take one more look around the house that a few minutes ago I thought I might want to live in forever. And then I force it out. “Take me home.”
CHAPTER 8
Chance
* * *
What the actual fuck?
I mean it, what the fuck? Even as I tear the house apart looking for her, throwing furniture, ripping doors off their hinges, tossing beds and tables, I can tell she’s gone.
It’s emptier than it was when I left.
And it’s not a lack of things, it’s a lack of…her.
“Sophia?”
Part of me wonders if she could have gone out for a walk, but I know that’s not the case. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know. It’s like there’s some invisible thread binding me to her and right now it’s stretched long. So long it might just break.
I could lose her.
Fuck. I can’t lose her. I’ll die, maybe not physically, not for a while, but there won’t be any more of me left inside the hollow shell that’s left behind. Any hope I had of finding happiness is gone without her.
“Sophia? Where the fuck are you?”
My voice is hoarse with emotions I had no idea I knew how to feel. All those combat tours, I thought they’d numbed me. Apparently not.
Fuck. I need to get a hold of myself. I need to figure this out. She’s gone, and not gone out but gone away. Which means…
She knows about the other road. Fuck! Why did I keep it from her? Why did I think I could get away with that and she’d never find out. Of course she’s fucking pissed, I would be in her position.
But did she find it herself, or…?
Without finishing the thought, I’m out and heading for the garage where I keep my bike. If she left by herself, she took my bike or she left on foot. Either way, I know where she’s headed and I have to get there right now.
The fucking hotel.
Slamming the shutters on the garage open, I see my bike still sitting there and my heart surges with both relief and fear. If she’s on foot, I have a chance of catching her and making all this right. But I don’t like the idea of her being out there alone, scrambling up that dirt path, scared and feeling betrayed.
Hold on, baby, I’m coming.
Sophia
* * *
“Nothing before then?” Tor leans on the counter, making the sales clerk pull back.
“N—no. Sorry. Everything else is…booked.” He visibly gulps, and I’m surprised he doesn’t add please don’t hurt me.
Poor guy. This is hardly his fault.
“You two really are a couple of cavemen, aren’t you? Just pay the guy and we’ll wait for our flight. Jeez.” I lock eyes with the man behind the counter. “Sorry about these two.”
He nods like I’m offering him a lifeline, but before he can thank me I’m already turning away, heading for the departure lounge. None of this even means anything to me. I’m numb, like I no longer have any emotions left to give besides irritation.