Tor glares. “Don’t take that tone. Some guy kidnaps you out of a hotel, and we’re not supposed to be concerned? Get real, Sophia.”
“Nobody kidnapped me,” I protest with a huff, although my back straightens at the word. What would I call what Chance did, if not kidnapping? He didn’t exactly give me a choice when he carried me out of there, did he?
Although, if he had given me a choice, would I have said no?
“Like I said, I’m fine. There was no need for you two to come all the way out—” I pause, and their eyes narrow as I feel my brain go into overdrive. It doesn’t make sense, but that would mean… No, I can’t, I won’t believe that Chance would do that. “How did you two get here?”
Cyrus snorts. “How do you think? Booked a flight as soon as your friend Ruby called us up in a panic when she hadn’t heard from you. Threatened people at the hotel, made a few enemies and found out where this scumbag lives.”
I grit my teeth. “Chance isn’t a scumbag, asshole. But that’s not what I meant. I mean, how did you get here. The road is washed out. It’s impassable.”
Tor shakes his head. “The guy at the hotel gave us directions.”
“Yeah, after we threatened to break his fingers,” Cyrus says with a grin.
My brother is such an asshole.
“He said to keep on the road until we got to another turning,” Tor says. “It’s a long route up some windy fucking dirt path but it’s fine. No difficulties.”
Suddenly there’s no air.
Tor’s voice goes like treacle as I try to breathe, backing away down the corridor. I don’t care that there’s another way out. I don’t care that he was trying to keep me here. I wanted to be here. But he lied to me.
How can I ever trust a man that would lie to me about something like this?
He saw how worried I was, how I wanted to contact my friends and tell them that I was okay. And instead of telling me that we could get out of here and back to the hotel, he kept it from me. Truth is, that’s not even what’s breaking my heart right now.
The dream is over. The fantasy washing away.
I have a huge life back home. He lives like a hermit crab in this island paradise. Vacation flings feel great until the vacation is over.
I don’t even realize I’m crying and collapsing on the floor until Tor is holding me up, staring into my face.
“Sis? What is it?”
I bat his hand away and pull back. “I’m…I’m fine. I’m…”
Not fine at all.
My whole world feels like it’s crashing down. The life I’d imagined I could have, the love, it’s all just been ripped out of my chest, leaving a gaping wound that I don’t think will ever heal. I’m terrified that maybe this could have worked but more terrified to find out, that it never would.
“Get me out of here,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. If I see Chance again, I know I won’t think straight. I’m horrible for leaving, but he shouldn’t have lied. “Just get me out of here, please. Take me…” The word sticks in my throat as I take one more look around the house that a few minutes ago I thought I might want to live in forever. And then I force it out. “Take me home.”