AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t hear the water running.” I touched the door.
“Shit,” she whispered under her breath.
“Watch your language,” I grunted.
“You can’t do that,” she whined.
“Do what?” I ran my finger under the door, hoping she would reach out and touch me. I missed her touch. She didn’t take the bait.
“If you don’t want me, you can’t tell me what to do,” she sighed and I pictured her with tears in her eyes.
“Not want you?” I shook my head and rubbed my forehead. “How can you say I don’t want you?”
“Because this will be the second time you leave me.” A thud made me jump. “If you want someone, you don’t leave them behind.”
Was she talking about me or her brother? Maybe both.
“People leave people they want all the time.” I blinked away tears. “Bishop left us.”
“That’s different.” The door cracked open. She peeked around the edge of the door. I turned my head and the tears in her eyes gutted me.
“Yeah.” I reached for her. “It’s different.” She crawled into my lap and laid her head on my shoulder. She had put my T-shirt back on.
I held her as tears flowed. I no longer held mine back. We cried together, but not the gut-wrenching sobs like before. It was a melancholy cry session. Neither of us tried to hide the tears sliding down our faces because we were sad. Despite it all, being together, enjoying each other for the time we had, it was sorrowful and sad.
She lifted her head and wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt. I kissed away her tears. When they stopped, I brought her head back to my shoulder and ran my other hand up and down her back.
“I do want you, Ciara,” I sighed. “More than anything and anyone, but you can’t come with me.”
She stiffened in my arms. I tightened my hold on her.
“You have stuff you need to accomplish and I’m not going to be the reason you don’t do it.”
She lifted her head and searched my face. “I don’t have anything to do.” She pursed her lips.
“Yes, you do.” I gripped the sides of her face. “You are going to spend the next couple of weeks grieving your brother. You’re going to look after your parents and make sure they are going to be okay, and they will be, don’t ever for a minute think different. Then you are going to move on with your life.”
She shook her head. “I—”
“Yes, you are,” I cut her off. “You have your dream job in Vegas starting next month. If Roman has to strap you into his father’s plane, you’re going.”
She grunted.
“You think I’m kidding.” I narrowed my eyes and she blinked.
“You’re going to have the most amazing time and you’re going to think of me a lot, but it’s not going to stop you from living your life.” My hand slid down to her chest. I covered her heart and her heartbeat sped up “The life you pictured before all of this happened.”
“I pictured you in that life,” she whispered.
“And, I will be, just not now.”
She turned away, but I turned her back.
“You expect me to wait for you?” she scoffed and threw me her most exaggerated eye roll.
Someday, I was going to break her of the habit, but right now we had no time.
I pinched her ass.
