Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Something’s wrong.
There’s no way they’ve handled it all for so long without me.
When I land, there’s a limo waiting for me.
I didn’t order it, and it only takes me a moment to realize who did. Miles apart, and I still can’t get away from their pull on my life. Their kindness, their forethought, and their care.
I’m in a fog of memories the moment I slip into the back of the limousine. I miss the four of them so deeply now. In the short time that’s passed, I feel like I’ve aged a million years.
Each one of them has impacted me so deep that I’ll never get over the feeling of loss. The weight of my life descends onto my shoulders—just as heavy, if not heavier, as when I took my very first vacation.
I love New York, but not today. Today, I hate it.
Did I do the right thing by leaving?
How can I live without them now that I know what I’ve been missing all of my life?
Chapter 32
Killian
This is bad. We put ourselves out there, and this is how we’re repaid? We should’ve seen this coming, honestly.
I look around at the other guys after the helicopter is out of sight. Derek’s staring deep into a cup of tea. Xane’s staring into the sun just starting to set over the ocean, and Spencer…is already asleep again.
“Hey,” I say to the nearest attendant. “How long until we hit land?”
“About a day and a half, Sir,” she says.
“Fuck. Okay,” I say, slowly shaking my head. “Scotch. Strong. And whisky, on the rocks.”
She nods and walks away. Alcohol probably isn’t exactly the right response, but I can’t think of anything much better right now.
“That little…couldn’t even wait a day to talk things over…” I mumble to myself. “Fine. Whatever. Fuck it. Fuck her. Fuck everything.”
“Time, my dude,” Spencer says blearily. “Not a shit we can do right now, yeah? We gotta chill. Last leg always sucks on this one coz we can’t go fast, or we’ll just run out of fuel. Not like we’d catch up with the copter anyways, even in our little boats.”
Great. Perfect time for one of his lucid moments. When he’s right, he’s right—and I fucking hate when he is. Logic from a surfer guy’s mouth just bugs the shit out of me.
“Whatever. She can run back to her life,” I growl. “She’s just another woman, come and gone!”
I spin on my heel and walk inside to the lower deck, slamming the door hard behind me. I hear a cracking sound, but I don’t give a fuck.
Fuck Nicole for sending her to us.
Fuck Spencer for being right.
Fuck Julia for getting in my head like this.
I stare out into the slowly darkening sea off the side of the ship. I can still hear the horrid sounds of the helicopter as it carried her away. I’m reluctant to say it, but she took a piece of all of us with her.
I know I’m being an asshole. I get it.
You don’t have to judge me so much, but you have to know what heartbreak is like, right? Just a few months ago, I was on top of the fucking world. Not a single care in my life, and all that changed with a knock on my office door.
Fuck it!
I rip my shirt off and take a few steps back.
Girls, man, I think to myself as I stare at the side of the boat.
I get an easy running start and leap off the side. The water crashing around me brings me to my senses a little. It’s nice.
As I break the surface of the water, I look up. The guys are staring down at me from the top, yelling various things I can’t hear through the water in my ears. I swim around to the front of the boat as I hear them stomp down a few flights to meet me.
“What the fuck was that?” Derek screams at me.
“One bad wave, and we’d have to fetch you, you dumbass!” Xane says at the same time.
“Nice dive, dude!” Spencer laughs.
As I climb up the ladder, multiple hands grab at me. All three of them yank me up. Once I’m firmly planted, Derek slugs me in the shoulder, but I only laugh in response.
I deserved that.
“Look, there’s not a shit we can do. Tonight, at least,” I say. “But we gotta get in contact with her as soon as we can. If that means breaking down the door to her office, then so be it, but we can’t just let her walk away like this. She knows there’s more to it just as much as we do.”
“This life’s pretty overwhelming,” Xane says, nodding in agreement.
“I dunno about breaking shit down, but I know she’ll cool off soon,” Spencer says. “We just gotta chill. Reach out when we can, let her ease her way back to us, too.”