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Present Day
Everett
After falling asleep on opposite sides of the bed, I wake up the next morning curled around Skylar’s body. Her head rests on one of my arms while the other is wrapped around her waist, pulling her snug against me. Our legs are intertwined in a tangled mess as her delectable ass settles way too close to my straining erection. I wish I could blame my arousal on morning wood, but that would be a bold-faced lie.
We haven't spoken a single word to each other since Skylar told me that she hated me. I know she doesn't, but our situation would honestly be easier if she did. After last night, I’m starting to get the feeling that she’s been craving this thing between us as much as me. But I can’t allow myself to give in when I know that she’s just going to crawl back to my brother. It would only make the hell I’ve been living in even more unbearable.
This is the first time I’ve ever had the privilege of waking up next to Skylar. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined us being here right now. She looks so peaceful… a real-life sleeping beauty.If only a kiss could solve all our problems.
Her chestnut hair falls in waves around the pillows, smelling of vanilla and honey. Her body rises and falls with lazy breaths as she snoozes peacefully. I place a gentle kiss to her cheek, soft enough to not wake her, and carefully slip out of bed.
I walk towards the window when I notice a blinding glare shining through. I glide the cheap curtains open as I press my palm against the chilled glass. It’s still freezing outside but at least the sun is out, already starting to melt away some of the snow. There’s not a cloud in the sky, the view a stark contrast to yesterday’s weather. With traffic and stops, we still have at least six hours until we make it to Denver. I send up a silent prayer that today will go smoother than yesterday.It has to.
An hour later, we’re finally back on the road. After showering, I dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved gray henley before walking over to Willie’s to pick up breakfast tacos. While I was there, my weather app alerted me that the highway would be back up and running at eleven a.m. I found the bed empty when I got back to the room, but my panic was short-lived when I heard the shower running at full blast with pop music streaming along with the water. I took that as a sign that maybe Skylar was in a good mood today, but I also had to shake the image of her dancing naked in the shower from my brain.
I guess I was wrong to assume that she was in a good mood because the only two words she’s muttered since she woke up were “thank you” when I handed her a breakfast taco. She burrowed it next to her chest like a hungry squirrel and scurried over to the small sofa. She sat cross-legged, looking so damn cute in her leggings and sweater as she scarfed down the best taco I’ve eaten in years. I may have to come back to this Godforsaken town just to eat at Willie’s again.
I’m distracted from my thoughts as Skylar anxiously taps her fingers against her leg, reminding me that we’re on the road again. We’re still hours away from making it to Denver, and it’s going to be an unbearably long drive if this awkward silence continues.
Deciding to break the ice, I sigh and rest my arm on the steering wheel. “You gonna be mad at me all day? We still have a long way to go.” I keep my eyes fixed on the road as I wait for her response. Right when I think she’s going to ignore me, she finally speaks.
“I’m not mad at you,” she sighs, tilting her head back against the seat. “I’m just… I have a lot on my mind.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I feel her gaze shoot to where I sit in the driver's seat as she scoffs.
“All of ourtalkingis the reason my brain feels so jumbled right now.” She shakes her head, her next sentence so soft I barely hear her. “I just feel like everything’s a mess.”
“Skylar, you’re twenty-five,” I exhale. “You’re not supposed to have it all figured out.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” she retorts. “You own a successful business. You own a beautiful home. You’re not in a relationship with someone who forgets you exist on a daily basis. It really sounds like you’re struggling, Everett,” she adds sarcastically.
My gaze snaps to her as I arch a brow. “You are strongly mistaken if you think I have a perfect life. First off, you seem to forget that I’m ten years older than you. And yes, I do have a successful business, but I’m also responsible for the livelihood of my employees… You have no idea how stressful that is. As far as my home, I had to work my ass off years before I bought it. And last but not least, if you think I’m happy with my relationship status, then you’re clearly delusional,” I shake my head.
“Pining after your brother’s fiancé for three years is fucking hell. So no, Skylar, I’m far from having it all together.”
“Pining after me for three years?” She snaps, lifting her brows. “Everett, I never received a single call or text from you after we got off that cruise ship.Not one.”
My shoulders stiffen.Is she fucking kidding me?
“You’re unbelievable,” I scoff, shaking my head.
“You can’t just say things like that to me, Everett,” she raises her voice. “Communication works both ways.”
“Twelve hours,” I lower my voice. “Twelve miserable hours I waited for you up on that deck, baking in the sun. I was too afraid to leave to even take a piss because I didn't want you to think I left if you showed up. I stayed there all day, just like I told you I would. I swore I would never admit this to you, but I even stayed until the moon replaced the sun,” my voice cracks as I shake my head.
“A small piece of me held on to the false hope that you would show. All I wanted was to talk to you. So don’t fucking get me started on communication.” I flex my jaw as my hand tightens around the steering wheel.
A beat of silence passes before she whispers, “Everett… I’m so sorry.”
I don't respond, because I have nothing to say. How dare she, of all people, try to talk to me about communication.
“Everett… You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about that day. Thought about you waiting for me on that deck. I… I didn’t know…” she exhales. “My heart broke at the idea of you standing there, hoping that I would show. It still breaks my heart to think about it.”
“I’m sure it does,” I scoff. “And you expectedmeto reach out to you when we got off that ship… after I humiliated myself, waiting for you for hours.”
“I didn’t think about it like that, Everett,” she sighs. “I had no idea you stayed up there all day. We… We’ve never talked about it. Hell, we’ve barely spoken a word to each other until this trip.”
