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A film of sweat formed under her arms, and her heart raced. He could not be for real.
“No? You sure about that? You’ve done the exact same thing. Pretending to be a consumer reporter at KDVX when you’re about to be everyone’s boss.” She kept going, the words flowing with anger. “Looks like in eight years neither of us has really changed.”
He sucked in a breath. “That’s pretty low.”
“You’ve got places to be. Places that aren’t here.” She tried to slip past him.
He stepped in front of her, blocking the small hallway. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She crossed her arms across her chest. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“Why, Luce?” he practically growled the words.
“You should go.”
He moved toward her. “Lucy, why?”
They’d finish this now—then he would go. She took a breath. “I didn’t want you to remember because I was hiding. I didn’t want my past to follow me here.” The word caterpillar echoed through her brain, taunting her. “Then, when we got close and you didn’t remember, it stung. I knew if you remembered, you’d only see that girl when you look at me.”
He cussed and glanced away.
She ground her heel into the disastrous image, slammed the door to the bedroom, and stripped off her robe. A sob desperately tried to escape from the depths inside her. She swallowed it down. Caterpillar. Never, never would she have expected him to join the crowd of bullies who spent years tormenting her. Like Robbie…like everyone she’d ever known. Their only purpose remained to hurt her any way they could. Robbie broke her arm. Bones healed, though. Will broke her heart. The fracture wouldn’t mend.
Tears are a luxury girls aren’t afforded. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind.
She crossed her arms over her breasts, embarrassed. Ashamed. The bathroom door stood ajar. She snatched a handful of clothes from the dresser and turned the lock behind her.
She.
Would.
Not.
Cry.
With nowhere to go, she turned on the shower, ready to wash away Will’s scent. Wash away her pain. Wash away the world.
“Luce?” he called through the thin door.
She refused to answer him.
A firm knock against the door.
No.
She gripped her fingers tight to keep her hands from shaking.
The shower warmed, and she climbed in, raising her face into the stream. It dissolved any semblance of armor remaining. Like cotton candy dropped in a lake, the dam around her emotions disintegrated and every unshed tear she’d ever held inside released.
She stood there, unmoving, until the hot water ran out and a cold, angry stream spiked against her skin. She didn’t turn it off. The freezing water rinsed away her warm tears.
Another knock sounded against the door—this time louder than before.
“I have to go, Lucy.” Will rattled the doorknob. “Neilson’s here. I… It’s almost time for the press conference.” He paused. “I have to go.”
She didn’t answer.
“Lucy, say something. I can’t leave like this.”
