Page 40 of Let’s Be Real

It hadn’t been so bad, lying there, watching the shadows dance on the ceiling, her sleeping peacefully half on top of me. A lot less lonely than my nights usually were.

She slept through me rubbing my feet together and using my phone for a while when I needed a break from the shadows. She barely moved when I shifted my body, rolling with me instead of protesting. And when I fell asleep, it was with my fingers in her hair, and our faces so close our noses were grazing.

Something brought me out of a dead sleep. At first, I thought it was my phone’s alarm or Samantha moving against me, but she was still breathing softly on my chest, and my phone was silent.

I heard it then. Someone knocking on our door in light, frantic taps.

It wasn’t even seven in the morning. Not a chance that was housekeeping. Who in the world would come knocking on our door at this hour?

Samantha made a disgruntled sound as I rolled her off me but stayed asleep. I threw on my shirt and tugged on my pajama bottoms on my journey across the room.

The person on the other side was still knocking, louder now. I peered out the peephole, stunned to find Kelly wrapped in a white robe, her dark hair wild around her face.

I threw open the door, and she stumbled in, falling against my chest.

“Where’s Sam?” she gasped. “I-I—”

I caught her around the biceps, holding her upright. “Slow down. Samantha’s sleeping. Do you need something?”

She pushed away from me, running toward the bed. “Samantha! Samantha, wake up!”

Kelly leaped onto the mattress, grabbing Samantha’s shoulders. Samantha jerked awake, pushing herself upright in a hurry.

“What—” Samantha’s stunned gaze found mine. I was standing behind Kelly, seconds away from yanking her off Samantha. “What’s going on?”

“I need you to get me out of here!” Kelly cried. “I have to go right now.”

Samantha rubbed her eyes, her forehead creasing with confusion. “But…it’s your wedding day. You can’t leave.”

“I’m not getting married.” Kelly folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t ever want to see that lying, cheating, rat bastard again.”

“Oh,” Samantha breathed. “Oh, Kelly, I’m so sorry. But…why are you in my room?”

“Because I need you to take me back to Denver. I don’t want to see anyone.” Kelly’s voice cracked, but she didn’t cry. “I have to go, Sam. Mom and Dad won’t understand. They won’t let me…but I can’t be here. Please, just—please.”

Samantha looked up at me. All I could do was nod. Kelly was a real piece of work, but she needed help, and it wasn’t my place to deny her that.

Samantha refocused on her sister. “All right. I need to get dressed and pack.”

Getting Kelly out of the resort was a spy mission. Dressed in Samantha’s sweats and sunglasses, we rushed her through the lobby like bodyguards.

It was a whirlwind of madness until we were on the road, the resort in the rearview. Then Kelly went quiet for a while, staring out the window in the back seat.

Samantha and I exchanged glances. Worry lined her face, and I didn’t like it. I placed my hand on the center console, palm up, and she hesitated for a fraction of a second before sliding hers into it.

She liked when I rubbed along her thumb, so I did that, and some of her tension began leeching from her shoulders in my periphery.

“Easy,” I murmured.

“Thanks,” she replied just as quietly.

From the back seat, Kelly huffed. “Really? Must you? My heart is in a million pieces and you two want to be lovey-dovey in front of me? That’s the last thing I want to see.”

Samantha craned her neck to look at her sister. “We’re holding hands, not making out.”

“I’d rather see that. At least it would be hot.”

Samantha laughed, her hand still in mine. “Do you want to talk about it?”