AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My head hurts.
And if Dalton Meadows just wanted a fling, he could have one with a snap of his fingers. Except he wouldn’t, would he? Because Dalton has beensaving himself, andproposing, and holy shit I think some of this might actually be real—
“Breathe.” Dalton props me more firmly against the rock, then cups my cheek. “Breathe, Alba. You’re right, okay? You’re right. I’ve fucked this up. I fucked all of it up.”
That’s not what I was saying! Though I don’t disagree.
I purse my lips and exhale slowly.
“Why did you go?” God, I hate how tiny my voice is. How pathetic I sound. “If you wanted me back then, why did you ever go?”
Dalton sighs, shoulders slumping. Again, he looks like a stranger. Like the grown man I barely know, world-weary and tired, with the teenage boy I loved buried deep inside. “I wanted to earn you. That’s why.”
My legs are numb as I force myself to climb down the delicious man-tree I climbed. My ears are ringing, and this is all so much, so fast. I can’t make sense of it. Can’t make sense ofhim.
All I know is my heart is bleeding. I’ve hit my limit for today. I’m cooked.
“And you couldn’t have earned me from up close? You couldn’t have called once in a while?” My legs wobble as I walk to the side of the pool, and I wish I could storm around dramatically, but it’s hard in shoulder-high water. This is a slow-motion getaway.
Another long sigh gusts behind me. “It took longer than I thought it would, and I didn’t want to bother you until I was ready. I wanted you to live your life, Alba.” Strong hands grip my waist, and Dalton boosts me from the pool.
I hurry to my clothes in silence, showering water droplets onto the sand. I’m too choked up to speak. None of this makes any sense, and itallsucks.
It’s extra cruel, somehow, to get a taste of this life now. The romantic dates; the sleepy seaside town; the hungry, restless way Dalton watches me. The promises. The casual references to forever, as if that’s something we could truly have.
I’d be the biggest idiot in the world to fall for this. I don’t know how exactly, but this is a trap. The panic pressing against my chest tells me so.
Because I’ve been down this road with Dalton before—handed him my whole heart on a platter, then walked around for eight years with an empty chest, wondering why I was so hollow. Made myself into a ghost, willingly. I can’t do that again.
“I’m going back to the hotel,” I say, tugging my sundress over my head. My bikini is gonna leave damp patches, but I don’t care. Dignity is no longer my main goal: it’s pure survival.
“Okay,” Dalton says. He sounds robotic, and I don’t look over as he gets dressed.
“And then I’m booking the next flight home.” The words bounce around the cave, and when they come back to me, they sound warped. All wrong.
This pause lasts forever, but when Dalton finally walks up to my side, his face is smooth. He gestures to the mouth of the cave, to the golden sunshine and to reality waiting for us out there. “If that’s what you want.”
It’s not what I want.
But it’s what I need.
Right?
* * *
In the hours we’ve been gone, the town square has come to life. It’s sunny and bright, the morning air smells like salt and citrus, and the scene before us looks like a postcard.
Locals sit at outdoor cafe tables, sipping coffee and laughing. Some have plates of breakfast food, and dogs on leashes wind between people’s legs, hoping for dropped scraps. Seagulls peck at the cobblestones, bickering together in small flocks, and music floats from an open window.
My foul mood is jarring in comparison. I feel like the stain in this perfect picture—the fly in the delicious soup.
But I’m not the only one who’s out of place. A man in a puffer jacket leans against the statue plinth in the center of the square, bundled up despite the warm morning. The cobblestones around him are littered with cigarette stubs, and he’s smoking another.
He straightens when he sees us walk off the beach.
“Dalton,” I say slowly. It’s the first time I’ve spoken since the cave.
My best friend sighs. “I know. I see him.”
