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How could things go tits up so fast? I walked into my room in a daze. As I folded my clothes and packed up my things, I fought off the self-pity I felt. My father was right. I’d done this to myself. And selflessly, I would do it again.
This farce of a marriage would have rules. There was nothing to say I had to stay married to this phantom man for the rest of my life. I could negotiate my way out of this or at least to suit my interest as best I could.
When I zipped my bag, I did still have some options. I could run for it. Get a flight back home and to my mother before my father realized. We could start again somewhere new. She’d done it before. We would be smarter this time and not tell anyone what we were doing.
There was also another option.
Twenty-Six
Liam
While drying off my hair with a towel, I did my best not to think about Natalie. She was more and more in my thoughts.
I tugged at my cock, willing it not to harden further at the thought of her wet and underneath me.
Though I’d felt justified in telling her to give Christy my number, I hadn’t gotten a call. As thirsty as Christy had acted, I guessed Natalie hadn’t given up my number. I couldn’t say I was disappointed.
With the towel wrapped around my hips, I picked up my phone several times to text Natalie but didn’t. I should leave well enough alone. Instead, I dialed a different number.
A groggy Grant answered with a barely uttered “Hello.”
“What the fuck, cousin?”
“Liam?” he spoke as if he didn’t recognize my voice.
“Are you up?” I asked.
“Barely, what’s up?”
He sounded disconnected, which wasn’t like him. “Is everything okay?”
“If you mean if I’m alive, then yes. Everything else… shit.”
My uncle had been right. “This girl really did a number on you.” He was quiet. “Grant. Dude, I thought you would never fall.”
“Never say never, isn’t that what they say? Here today and gone tomorrow. For the life of me, I don’t know why. If I knew what I did wrong…”
“Is it worth it?”
“What?”
“Falling in love?” He sure didn’t sound like it.
“Yeah,” he said. “The shit of it is, yes. She was everything I wasn’t looking for, but everything I needed.”
“Have you called her?”
His laugh was a bitter pill I swallowed. “Yeah. She isn’t returning my calls though.”
“And you still think it’s worth it?” I wouldn’t ask him about the other woman that had left him much like his mom, without a word.
“There is that other saying. When you love someone let them go. If they come back, they love you too. I’m done chasing anyone.”
“Maybe you should,” I suggested.
“Tell me that when it happens to you.”
Grant was the only one in the world I’d ever been completely honest about everything. “I let her go.”
This time his laugh had lost its edge. Instead, it was a mocking one. “Carrie?”
“No, Carrie is in a no-fly zone. She hooked up with Connor.”
“Shit. Sorry, cuz.”
“I didn’t fight for her,” I admitted.
“What?” he asked.
“When she ended things. I let her go.”
“Not so in love.”
“Yeah. Not so much. I loved her. But I wasn’t fully in love with her.”
“But you would have married her?” he asked.
“Yeah. Like you and what’s-her-name.” I finally mentioned the girlfriend he’d almost married. She’d cheated with his best friend.
“I wasn’t in love with her.”
“And Jo?” Jo was the nickname he’d called the woman I met at his cabin. The one I was sure had him in the dumps.
“I told you, she’s gone.”
“Is she worth fighting for?”
He didn’t answer. I let it go and asked if he’d check on my mom. Sounded like he needed something to do to get his mind off the woman he’d lost. That was how we ended the call.
I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then put them on before I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was halfway there when a knock came, surprising me.
There were only a few people on the list that could come up without a call from the doorman. Most of that list was my dad’s family. Hell, it was their place. The only other person in town that could show up was Natalie.
I slowed my pace and took my time answering the door.
When I opened it, I wasn’t sure which of us was more shocked to see the other. Then again, she was the person I’d been about to go see.
Twenty-Seven
Natalie
Snow fell like it was Christmas, but it wasn’t, was it? It was more a nightmare than anything else.
Damn the consequences. If I was giving up my entire life, I would have one thing for myself. One choice that was all mine.
I dug into my purse, grabbed my ID, a credit card, phone, and one other thing that would fit in my pocket. I snuck out the back for fear my father had someone watching the house. By tomorrow, one way or the other I would be gone. No way I would bring trouble to Ms. Allen. But I needed today.
