AllFreeNovel
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“They’re really here?” I gasp hopefully.
“Yes. But we need to talk about what happened yesterday,” he tells me sternly. “You’re hiding something.”
“Yesterday?” I think dazedly. I lost almost an entire day. I can’t afford to do that.
I belatedly realize what he just said. “There’s nothing to talk about. I was obviously emotional about what happened,” I tell him defensively.
“Valentina—”
“Please,” I cut him off. “Please just let this go. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” It’s a fool’s mission at this point to think I can wait until the very end to tell him.
But I just need a little longer. Especially with everything that happened yesterday. They’ll stay because I’m dying, not because they actually want to.
I don’t want that. I never wanted pity when I started on this journey. All I wanted was love.
Carter stares at me for a long time. He has shadows under his eyes, like he was up all night worrying about me.
And maybe he was.
Yes, I’m going to have to tell them soon.
Just not today.
There’s another knock on the door, and Logan and Quaid wander in. Both their postures are stiff, as if all the days of our trip so far had never happened. Quaid looks like he’s going to be sick. Or maybe hungover. I’ve had enough experiences with that to recognize it in someone else.
Logan just looks miserable. Like he wants to be anywhere but here.
“Hi,” I say shyly, smoothing my hair behind my ears. I’m sure I look a mess. When you have curly hair, you can’t just go to bed after a bath, and that’s exactly what I did. There’s a stark silence in the room, and then Quaid is stalking towards me. He’s on his knees at the edge of the bed before I know it.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Princess,” he says in a choked voice. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Suddenly, I’m suspicious.
“Why?” I ask.
All three of them look at me quizzically.
“Why are you here?” I take my time looking at the three of them, looking for pity or anything really that will tell me why everything is different today when they were so sure they were done yesterday.
They all shift uneasily. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I need you here because you love me,” I begin softly. “Not for any other reason. If that’s not why you’re here, I want you to leave.” I look at all of them fiercely. They obviously know something, but as long as they don’t know what that something is, then what I’m asking shouldn’t be impossible.
“Val, we’ve all agreed to share—” begins Quaid.
“For now,” cuts in Carter, although he only says it halfheartedly, which is honestly marked improvement for him.
Quaid rolls his eyes. “We’ve all agreed to share. I don’t think we can promise it’s going to go smoothly. But walking out that door made me feel like my heart was being ripped in two. I didn’t remember how much pain it felt to lose you.”
My hands tremble as I bring my blanket up to my chin, trying to control the emotions parading through my body. I know exactly what he means. The pain I felt yesterday…
I don’t think I could live through that again.
There’s a tense silence.
“Can I talk to Valentina alone?” Logan asks stiffly.
Carter growls next to me, but he reluctantly gets off the bed and stalks out, sending me a glance over his shoulder that makes promises to me that I’m desperate for him to keep.
Quaid gives me a pleading glance as he gets off his knees. He puts a knee on the bed and leans over me, leveling me with a deep kiss, like he never wanted to stop, like he couldn’t get enough.
