Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Fuck.
“I’m going for a drive.” I pushed back from the desk and grabbed my coat on the way out the door.
“Maybe you should drive by your house so you can stop sleeping on my couch,” he called after me. “Even if she’s leaving, she should know how you feel. Evolve, West!”
A growl rumbled in my chest as I climbed into my truck and turned the ignition. I wanted to run, to drive as far and as fast as I could. I wanted to go back to last month or the month before and tell Sutton she couldn’t compete. I wanted to go back to that fight in the kitchen and tell her that I was so wrapped up in her that I couldn’t see a future without her.
Damn it. More than anything, I wanted her to go, to have her chance at living out her dream. But I wasn’t sure I’d survive losing her.
I ended up at the duplex.
I just really wanted to talk it out with Callie.
Guilt gnawed at the edges of my stomach. If I told her how I felt, and she chose to stay, I’d never forgive myself. But the lie didn’t sit right either. Theo was right. Callie deserved all of the information. She deserved to know I’d wait. She deserved to know how badly I wanted her.
She could do whatever she wanted with the information.
Taking the deepest breath possible, I climbed out of the truck and walked up the steps to the little porch. Then I put my key in the lock and opened the door.
There was something off.
The house didn’t smell like oranges, and the art was missing from the walls. My stomach churned, and I ran up Callie’s steps, throwing open her bedroom door. Her furniture was there, but everything else was gone. Her bed was stripped, her windows were bare, and it was…empty.
I yanked out my phone and called the only person I knew who might know what the fuck was going on.
“Hey, Weston,” Ava answered, sadness saturating her voice.
“Where’s Callie?”
“Did you just get back?”
“Yeah, about an hour ago. Where’s Callie?”
She sighed. “So, please don’t hate me, but I made a mistake.”
“About what?”
“I heard Reed tell you that he was glad you’d left the mountain, and I told Callie.”
“Okay? You overheard us talking about the conference. No big deal.” That didn’t explain why Callie’s room was empty.
“Right, so from this end of the conversation, it sounded like you’d left…left. And I was asleep by the time Reed got home so I didn’t get to talk to him until the next morning, and that’s when he told me that you were only gone for a few days and he was glad you were getting the break because of what you and Callie were going through, but by the time I tried to call Callie, her phone was off—”
“Where. Is. Callie?”
“She left for the internship three days ago, Weston. I’m so sorry.”
Whatever was left of my heart shattered.
20
Weston
* * *
Three months later
* * *
Dear Weston,
We’re in Ecuador now. It’s hot, but the flowers are pretty, and I like being so close to the ocean. I get to go to the beach on days Mom isn’t shooting. But she shoots a lot. Yesterday we spent the whole day in one tiny area of the forest while she took pictures of flowers. I think we messed up. She’s not happy. Not like I thought she would be. I know you can’t write back. Mom gets sad when I say your name, but I wanted you to know we made it here, and we’ll be here for a few weeks. I’ll ask Carmen to sneak me out another letter when we get to Panama next month.
Love,
Sutton
* * *
You’re already in love with her. Theo’s words and Sutton’s monthly letters were my only companions in the empty house.
They were gone. The house smelled like…nothing, which was why I couldn’t stand to be there. I loathed every part of my day, from the second I woke up without her beside me, through the mornings I spent flying when she wasn’t strapped in behind me, to the nights when there was no laughter at dinner. No Sutton cracking jokes. No Callie helping her with her homework.
Everything in my life felt…empty, and whatever wasn’t empty was just pain.
You’re already in love with her.
“Are you listening to me?” Reed asked as we walked downtown, dodging early June tourists who darted in and out of the shops that lined the street.
“Expansion, blah blah. Profits, blah blah. Missing an entire demographic, blah blah.” I finished my overpriced coffee and threw the cup into the trash on the corner of Hudson and Main.
“This is your family business, too, you know.” Reed shot me a glare.
“Well aware.” I stared at the light, willing the crosswalk symbol to illuminate. The fact that Dad respected my boundaries, leaving Reed and me to make the decisions about our various responsibilities, was the only reason I was willing to call it a family business.