AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d barrel through all the poison that I couldn’t seem to purge from my system, the instincts that ran deep, the talent for compartmentalizing that was buried so far down I couldn’t remember where it began.
I’d done it before without even realizing it.
I’d curled my fingers around my friend’s coffin and shut down any hint of feeling, simply because I needed to survive it. And if I tried hard enough, I could remember the smooth surface underneath my skin.
Feel the scratch of his suit all those years ago when we hugged in the front yard.
Charlotte’s scrutiny was intense, and she seemed to weigh whether she wanted to push or not. I stood from the mattress, unzipping the top pocket of my suitcase and carefully tucking the folded letter in there.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I took a deep breath, and before I turned to face her, I let my dad’s voice ring through my head again.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to do it. Doing the hard things ...
But I couldn’t finish. The thought sputtered and fizzled out.
This wasn’t for my betterment. This wasn’t to make me stronger. Doing this thing would shred my insides, but I was better off letting her go now.
So was Charlotte.
The break should be clean, because it would be better for her that way. Respect what she’d asked for all those months ago, when she’d told me she trusted me.
“I’m gonna head back to Florida.”
She sucked in a fast breath through her nose, her chest expanding as she did. “Why?”
I hardly recognized my own voice; the eerie steadiness of it was foreign and cold. It was especially strange because tearing the words up my throat was a new, acute kind of pain.
“Things went too far this weekend,” I said. “Emotions were high, and ...” My voice trailed off as I registered the impact. The color leached from her face, and her pulse fluttered wildly at the base of her throat. “We agreed to keep things simple, and I think it’s for the best that we do.”
Charlotte didn’t cry.
She didn’t slap me.
I wished she had. Maybe that spark of pain on my skin would’ve matched what was happening under my ribs.
“What are you doing?” she asked. Her eyes never left mine, relentless and seeking.
I inhaled slowly. “I’m being honest with you, even if it’s hard to hear.”
“Bullshit.” She crossed her arms, the color climbing back into her cheeks. “I don’t know what’s making you run scared right now, but that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re shutting down—again—because you think you know what’s best.”
“That’s not—” I stopped, because my throat caught on the lie.
“You can’t even deny it. Burke, this is crazy.” She took a step closer to me.
I steeled myself, because I wasn’t sure I could resist if she touched me.
“My time here was always limited,” I told her. “I had one job to do, and that’s it. Same as you. It’s better if we go our separate ways before things get more complicated.”
“You never asked for my input on that. I’m in this too.”
“I know.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Partners.” She was unblinking and unyielding. “You promised me you’d have my back.”
“I know,” I ground out. “But I never promised I’d uproot my life, or that I’d leave the life I’m building down by my family.”
