AllFreeNovel
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Ethan
I’m not important anymore, so I’m relegated to coach class on a regular plane, which seems petty. At least they’re driving me to the airport instead of making me pay for my own cab.
Victor isn’t there when I wake up on the balcony, my back killing me. His swimsuit is gone, too. I lean on the railing and examine the bright sea, trying to spot his head out between the breakers, but I can’t.
I gather my stuff slowly, stalling and waiting for him to come back, until Gray drags me downstairs and practically throws me in the car.
At the front door of the hotel, he offers me his hand. “We’ll be in touch regarding your payment and your mother’s needs.”
“Ok.”
When I shake his hand, he holds on a beat too long. “And thank you for what you’ve done with him. He really is improving.”
“He’s not a dog.” I pull my hand away, irritation flaring in my stomach. “He’s done as much for me as I have for him.” Until it comes out of my mouth, I realize I hadn’t thought about it that way before. At the start of this trip, I felt like I was holding him together with sheer force of will. But he’s the one who woke up the strength in me, who always knows exactly what to say to bring me alive. Who gave himself to me like no one ever has—smart-ass mouth, terrible attitude, and all.
“I will tell him that you said goodbye.Buon viaggio.”
“And good riddance.” I say. “You people are insane.”
He smiles ever so slightly. “Indeed.”
I feel sick as the driver opens the back door of the car for me and we pull out onto the street. After everything we shared, he decided to run away from the hardest part and make me face it alone.
The driver throws on the breaks so hard I snap against my seatbelt. “Cazzo!”
Victor’s standing in the middle of the road, hands out, panting. His eyes meet mine through the windshield, and I can see relief in them. He runs around the car and scrambles in next to me. He’s still wet and wearing a swimsuit under his shorts. When the driver recognizes him, he swallows his curses as Victor taps the button that raises the partition between the front and back seats.
“Where were you?” I snap. I’m trying to stay mad and not look at the curve of his throat as he leans, back, sweaty, breathing hard.
“Swimming.” His eyes beg me to understand, to forgive him for running away.
I don’t have time to be angry with him. He’s here, and that’s what matters.
“You freaked me out.” I sulk, staring out the window. And just like I hoped, I feel him slide over to sit next to me. I can smell mint gum on his breath; he must be trying not to smoke.
“We’ve got twenty minutes; you’re king for the day. What do you want to do?”
I want you to make me understand how I can watch everything go back to normal, all of this fading away just like the water closed and smoothed out over Danny’s head, like he had never been there at all.
“Can we just chill? Pretend we’re bored and lying around on the couch on a Saturday afternoon?”
He snorts against my shoulder. “I don’t think the driver’s going to be cool with what I would do to you on a couch on a Saturday afternoon. But yeah, come here.”
He puts an arm around me and pulls out his phone. I slide down until my head rests against his shoulder as I watch him browse. The fingers of his other hand play slowly along the soft hairs at the back of my neck.
Flicking through random websites, he shows me dumb memes and pictures of dogs until he gets a smile from me. He’s the only thing in this world that makes my head go quiet, who unwinds that tight knot in my heart.
I turn, press my face into his chest, my nose against the collar of his tee, his soft skin. “I can’t.” I breathe. “I fucking can’t.”
He rests his cheek on the top of my head. “I know, baby. But you have to. It’s gonna get better, I promise. You’re really strong.”
“What about you?”
“Nothing can hurt me.”
“That’s not true.”
I can feel him shaking his head. “Just let it be true, ok? You’re going to drive yourself crazy.”
