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I cocked an eyebrow. “I was just coming over to dance with Kiera.”
Her brows drew together, but it was Margot who leaned forward and shared, “Kiera said she wasn’t feeling so great and that she was going to head back to the villa. We assumed you were going to go with her.”
I shook my head. “I was in the bathroom, so she must not have found me. I’m going to head out and catch up with her.”
“Okay. We’ll see you tomorrow night.”
I didn’t go in search of the guys to tell them I was leaving. The only thing I cared about was getting to Kiera and making sure she was alright.
But when I made it to our villa, I quickly learned that she wasn’t.
She was sitting on the couch, sobbing uncontrollably.
If I thought I was going to be able to fix things between us, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
SIXTEEN
Kiera
I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
My heart was pounding in my chest, and my body was trembling to the point that it would look to an outsider like I had a fever. Oddly enough, I could feel the sweat beading up on my upper lip, my forehead, and the back of my neck.
Nothing about this physical experience was familiar. None of it felt right or safe or normal.
Was I having a breakdown?
I didn’t know.
I couldn’t be sure.
But there was no question in my mind that I was having, at the very least, a complete and total meltdown.
It was a wonder I managed to make it back here to the villa without incident. And now that I was here, nothing else existed but the pain and anguish.
Nothing but me and my broken heart and the rivers of salt leaking from my eyes. I wondered if I’d made a smart decision by coming back here. I knew I needed to leave, to get away, but considering the way I felt right now, I wasn’t sure it was a wise idea for me to be alone. I was convinced I was going to hyperventilate.
I was so caught up in all that I was feeling, so consumed by the devastating grief, that I didn’t hear the door to the villa open, but when I felt the gentle touch of a hand on my shoulder, I knew it was Johnny.
For as long as I lived, I’d never forget the feel of his touch.
His voice, as soft and tender as his fingertips on my skin, managed to break through the sounds of my sobbing and erratic breathing. “Kiera, baby, what happened?” he asked. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
I couldn’t answer him.
I couldn’t speak.
It hurt.
All of it.
The only thing I could manage to do was shake my head, but I wasn’t sure Johnny knew which question I was answering when I did that. The next thing I knew, he was tugging me toward his chest.
My body, seemingly out of my own control, went where he wanted it. And in what I could only assume was a moment of weakness, I succumbed, allowing him to comfort me.
That lapse in judgment was short-lived.
In a brief moment of clarity, I realized that where I was now, wrapped up in his arms, was precisely what got me into this mess.
