Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
She smiles, but as she does, the fire and passion fade from her eyes until she’s left looking empty. “Yeah,” she says, glancing away, unable to meet my stare.
My brows furrow, and I take her chin, lifting it and bringing her blazing green gaze back to mine. “What’s the matter?” I ask, desperately searching her eyes.
“It’s nothing,” she says, trying to give me an encouraging smile, only the longer she forces it, the easier it is to see through, and fuck, the guilt radiating out of her puts me on edge. “It’s nothing. I’m just . . . I’m just being weird.”
She looks away again, but I don’t stop watching her, feeling in my gut that something’s not right, but why would she feel guilty over a simple comment about looking forward to being here together next year? Why would she get so torn up about something like that? Unless . . .
Fuck.
“You’re not planning on coming here, are you?”
Her eyes shoot back to mine, and the guilt flooding them almost knocks me back. “I . . . I’m sorry, I just—”
“Fuck, Zo,” I say, stepping away, everything breaking within me. “I thought you wanted this. Coming here was our plan.”
“Noah, please,” she says, jumping down from the hood and walking straight into me, taking my wrists in her hands and forcing me to meet her stare. “It’s not that simple. Of course I want to be here with you. I would follow you anywhere, and you know that. I just . . . shit.”
She pulls away from me, her eyes filling with tears as I try to figure out what the fuck could have changed her mind. “Tonight was supposed to be about you,” she finally says. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand, moving back toward her. “Isn’t how what was supposed to go?”
“Everything,” she says, the tears only getting worse. She shakes her head, heartbreak and regret flashing in her beautiful eyes. “Please, Noah. Can we not do this tonight? Let’s just go to that party and have a good time, and then tomorrow, I swear, I’ll explain everything.”
I scoff, gaping at her. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? You tell me you’re not coming here next year and expect me to just forget I heard anything and go to a party? What the fuck, Zo? You’ve been a stranger for the past two weeks, and I’m trying to give you whatever space you need to figure yourself out, but the more you shut me out, the more it fucking kills me.”
“Okay,” she says, those big green eyes filled with tears. She steps right back into me, tilts her head down until her forehead is pressed firmly against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, not knowing how to help her right now.
Zoey takes a few calming breaths before her soft tone fills the emptying parking lot. “I’ll tell you everything,” she promises me. “Just not here, okay? Somewhere private. It’s not something I can just blurt out.”
“Anything,” I tell her before nodding back to her Range Rover. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
She lets out a shaky breath, and I walk with her to the passenger side, opening the door and watching her with a sharp eye as she climbs in, her gaze locked on her hands. But the fear I see in her eyes scares the shit out of me.
After closing the door, I make my way around the car and get in beside her before starting the engine and backing out. The car is silent, apart from the soft whimpering of Zoey’s subtle cries, and I reach across the center console and take her hand. “I promise you, Zo,” I murmur as I pull out of the parking lot and onto the road. “Whatever this is, we’ll be okay.”
She gives me a small smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, and it’s clear from the way her gaze falls back to her lap, she doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t think we stand a chance of pulling through this.
Not knowing what to say or how to make the tension in the car fade away, I just drive, every possible worst-case scenario going through my mind. I don’t even know where I’m driving, just that my foot is on the gas, and I can’t seem to find anywhere to pull over because the second I do, she’s going to tell me something that I know is going to tear me to shreds, and I’m not ready. I don’t want to burst this perfect bubble we live in.
I drive and drive, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. The tension in the car becomes so thick that I can barely breathe. Dark clouds form above us, and a soft sprinkle falls against the windshield before quickly morphing into a raging storm. Rumbles of deep thunder sound in the distance, and I can’t help but think how it matches so perfectly to the storm raging inside my chest.