I manage to get a few hours of sleep before I’m awoken by a familiar ring tone. “Rach?” I mutter, my voice still hoarse from crying.
“Lizzy, I’m so sorry,” my bestie starts. “Charles came over and . . .”
“I really don’t need to hear the rest, Rach.”
The tone of my voice must clue her in that something’s wrong. “Honey, what’s going on?”
I suck in a deep breath, then dive into everything that’s happened since we last talked. The low of freaking out in Big Bear. Telling the guys about Bryce at Deep Creek. The high of spending the night with Nova in Cajon Pass. The guys giving me rocks when we crossed the San Andreas. I sniff and wipe more tears away, trying to pull up the courage to tell her the last part. How I had found Casanova kissing another woman.
“I don’t know what to think,” I tell Rachel between sniffs. “What to feel. I thought we had something, and then . . . then . . .”
When I trail off, Rachel asks, “What do you need, Lizzy? Anything. Name it.”
“You have classes, Rach.”
“Fuck classes. You’re my bitch.”
What do I need? A fucking hug. My BFF and a carton of ice cream. A safe place to shatter into a million pieces, like the million sparkling pieces of glitter from Grinder’s box yesterday. Fuck. The guys. What the hell am I going to do? What can I do? The whirl of an airplane engine overhead catches my attention. If it’s that low, then there’s probably an airstrip close by. Hell, I could get a ride into Los Angeles from here if I need to. A sob escapes me, because I know what I need to do. It may cost me my dream, but my dream has become a nightmare.
“I can’t do this, Rach. I can’t face Casanova. Not without seeing him kissing that woman. And I was wrong. I can’t do this alone. I just can’t.” My breathing grows heavier. Frantic. Burning like I’ve been holding my breath underwater for too long. Leaving the trail, giving up, shouldn’t be an option. But there it is, and the idea of getting out of here eases the pain in my chest a little. Enough to suck in a deep breath and continue. “I can get a ride into LA. An Uber. A bus. Anything. I have to get out of here. I need to come home.”
“Lizzy . . .”
There’s a knock at the door, but I ignore it.
“Can you book a ticket for me?” I ask.
“You are strong enough, girl. Of course you can do this.” Rachel has always been my rock. Believing in me when I don’t have the strength left to believe in myself. “Are you sure you want to come home?” She’s not questioning my decision, just verifying it. Because she’s right. I don’t want to leave, but what other choice do I have?
There’s another knock, but I ignore it.
“Even if I wanted to continue, there’s two weeks of food waiting for me at the next stop,” I say as yet another knock pulls my attention. “I can’t even begin to carry that much weight. So, yeah. That’s . . .”
There’s another knock and I lose it. I let out a loud growling yell as I storm over to the door and fling it open. “What?” A heavenly aroma hits my nose and my gaze drops to the cup of coffee being offered to me. My gaze jerks up and I gasp at the guy standing in front of me. “Grinder?”
With a warm smile, he says, “Hi. I’m Blake.”