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“Do you want to tell me why?”
“I’d like to hear what you have to say first.”
“That’s fair.” She looks at our hands, strokes her thumb against mine. Her chest heaves with a deep sigh. “Rhonda offered to give me Something Blue. Like, I don’t even have to pay for it. I just have to accept it.”
I should have seen this coming. And yet, a sudden cold expands throughout my core. “That’s … wow.”
“Right?” Chloe’s voice pitches higher, in competition with the echoes of the waves, which are much louder here because of the rocks. They beat out an impossibly sad melody.Don’t go.“I won’t deny that I’ve loved our time here. That I love the people, the way they’ve taken us in, the way we feel halfway normal here. And I think you’ve loved it too, yeah?”
“I won’t deny that either. It’s a great place.”
“Right? See? And I was thinking—or hoping, rather—that we might give it a go. You and me. Here. Together.” She pulls in close again, and runs her fingers down the lapels of my blazer. “We could build a life outside of the cameras, keep this going. Be free.”
My heart breaks with every word. It’s like watching a film of someone else, and you know what’s coming and you scream at them to not go in that house because of course they’re about to get slaughtered.
The worst part is that Chloe doesn’t even know she’s the one holding the knife.
Because she lifts up to kiss me, soft and sweet as ever—and I want to let her. Oh, how badly I want to say yes, to give into the fantasy. To ignore the fact that I’m about to die.
My hands slide to her hips and press firmly to stop her ascent. I turn my head into her hair so her lips can’t touch mine. For a second, I just hold her against me.
She trembles. “Freddy?”
I pull back, look in her eyes. She deserves that much. “I think you taking over the shop is a brilliant idea.”
“You do?” Her tone is tentative, suspicious, and who can blame her? Because my actions seem to be saying the opposite.
“I do.” The breeze here is strong in this little alcove, and it whips pieces of her hair around. I smooth a strand down for her. “But I can’t stay.”
She licks her lips, then nods. “All right. That’s fine. We’ll stick to the original plan then. Go back to Kentonia in two days, talk with my fam—”
“No.” It’s the hardest word I’ve ever said.
“What do you mean, no?”
“I’m not going to let you sacrifice your dreams. You have to stay.”
She scoffs. “I’m not staying if you’re not staying. You’re more important than any other dream.”
“But I’m not. You long to be free, Chloe, and I can’t give that to you. My loyalty lies at home, but you … you have the chance to go. Your family would miss you, but ultimately they want you to be happy.”
“Youmake me happy.” Tears drip from those beautiful lashes of hers, and it absolutely guts me that I’m the cause.
“You’ll get over me.”
“You don’t get to decide what makes me happy, Frederick Shaw.” Now the tears are backed by flashes of anger. Good. Let her be angry. Let that anger fuel her into doing what I know she should.
What she knows she should too.
“Chloe, I only want what’s best for you.”
“You don’t get to decide that either. Because I love you, you dumb idiot. I love you and I don’t want to live life away from you. Ever.”
Sakes, this is hard. My eyes sting and my vision starts to blur, but I remain as stoic as I can. “I won’t keep you from doing the thing that makes you come alive, Chloe. The world would never forgive me.” I lean in and kiss her impossibly soft hair. “You might never forgive me either.”
“Of course I would.”
She’s clinging to my neck, and I’m clinging to her waist, both of us buried in each other.
