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His words struck me, swiftly draining the air from my lungs in a rush. My lips parted and it felt like my world was turning upside down. “What?”
He shook his head as another frigid laugh escaped him. “What the fuck is there for me in Vermont?”
“Me,” I breathed without hesitation as he twisted the knife in my chest while pushing it in deeper. “We were supposed to go together. You and me.”
“There is no you and me, Winter. Stop being delusional,” he scoffed as the mask of ice slid across his features. “Did you really think college was even an option for me? I only made it through high school because of my father having the board in his back pocket.”
He was breaking my heart, tearing it to shreds and letting the pieces fall to the ground by our feet. Kai’s moments of vulnerability always made him cruel, but he was always different with me. He let me into places no one else would ever come close to touching. He was icing me out and I didn’t know how to get through to him.
“But you told me you got into Wyncote University.”
His face was blank. “I lied.”
Nausea rolled in the pit of my stomach. “You never applied, did you?”
He shook his head and shrugged with indifference as he shifted his weight on his feet. I watched him transform in front of my eyes. The coldness had encapsulated him, but he wasn’t here with me anymore. He had withdrawn from me completely.
“This is life, Winter Reign. It’s disappointing and fucking pointless. It is never what you expect it to be and I was never meant to be a part of yours.”
“You don’t mean that.” I let out a ragged breath as I reached for him.
Kai abruptly took a step away from me. “You need to leave, Winter.”
I shook my head at him. “I’m not leaving you.”
A shadow passed over his face. “Go.”
“Don’t do this.” My plea fell from weak lips and my words were barely audible.
Kai ran his hands through his hair in frustration and gripped the strands between his fingers. The ice from his gaze slid through my veins. “GET OUT!”
My chest had finally caved in and his words punctured my lungs. I took a step backward, feeling slightly off-balance. The distance between us was already feeling like it was rapidly growing by miles.
“I hate you, Malakai Barclay.”
His face fell momentarily before he recovered and his mask was back in place. “Good.”
I faltered and waited two breaths for him to say something else. He didn’t. I was met with nothing but silence and his cold gaze that was locked on mine. This was it—this was the inevitable end Kai had promised me from the beginning. He was broken and I could never fix him.
Slowly turning my back to him, I left my heart lying on the ground by his feet and walked away from him forever. Kai made it his mission to push everyone away from him. He had finally succeeded with me, but only after he had let me in and allowed me to see the side of him no one else got to see. He had left a scar on my soul, one that I would never be able to remove.
I should have listened to him when he warned me to stay away.
He never lied when he said he would destroy me.
The only lie was the lie of us.
CHAPTER ONE
WINTER
Present
Istood outside of my childhood home and stared blankly at the massive front door. Never in a million years did I anticipate coming back to Orchid City. To the very place I had tried so hard to stay away from. When I left for college and moved to Vermont, I had every intention of leaving this place and the memories tied to it behind.
Every year when the holidays rolled around, I had an excuse that I couldn’t come back home for them. My parents and sister made it a habit to come see me in Vermont instead.
It had been over six years since I had been here.
