“So, I suppose…” I begin, but the words trail off my lips because I am just not ready to say it. My shoulders lean forward as the heaviness settles on me.
“Yeah, I think you might be right.” Isabella lets out a little chuckle but it’s far too strained to be a real noise. “We need to put an end to this, right? Because obviously, when we go back at home it’s going to be hard for us to even see one another. Plus, you will want to focus on Olivia and your relationship, right?”
I nod because I can’t say everything that I want to say, I kinda want to tell her how much I enjoyed her company, not just the incredible physical stuff that has happened between us, but our mental connection as well. We really do have an intense bond, don’t we?
But that is going to have to stay at Laucala Island.
We both knew that.
“Well, it’s been great,” I reply with a thin-lipped smile. “Don’t you think?”
“Oh yeah, for sure.” She nods eagerly. “The best time.”
It’s worse now, the air hanging between us. It’s so heavy I can barely stomach it. I rise to my feet because I know that if I don’t go now, I will want to envelop her in a hug and if we touch then there is no way that the chemistry won’t overtake us all over again.
Because it is out of control, isn’t it? We haven’t been able to take our hands off of one another the whole time that we have been here.
“Well, I’m going to get some sleep,” I say sadly. “Our flight is early in the morning.”
I want to stay. I know she wants me to as well, I can see it in her eyes. But we both know that tonight won’t be a last night type of thing, it will get us caught up in emotions all over again. We need to start the separation as soon as we can.
It’s the only way.
“Good night, Elijah,” Isabella says softly. “Thanks for an awesome vacation.”
I can’t reply because there is a terrible lump in my throat, but I’m sure she knows. I hope she does anyway, because we can at least leave here with that.
It’s better than nothing. I think.
ChapterTwenty-Six
ISABELLA
Somehow it doesn’t feel like it’s been a minute since we were last on this glamorous private jet to come to Laucala Island. But on the other hand it’s been a Goddamn lifetime. So much has happened since we landed, so much has shifted and changed. I don’t feel like I’m the same person, and I’m pretty sure that everyone else feels the same way.
But it doesn’t matter how much we’ve changed; we need to return to reality. It sucks.
Olivia is already curled into a ball, snoozing because she had a late night, last night. She was up with Benji all night long I believe, as a final goodbye or something like that. The sort of thing I would have loved to do with Elijah, but I’m pretty sure we both decided not to because there were already too many emotions circling around between us and we didn’t want things to get any more complicated.
They are already bad enough.
But that doesn’t mean I can keep my eyes off of him here. Because again, he’s seated in my eye line. I can’t stop my eyes from being drawn in by the intensity of the magical pull between us.
The magnetic tug, the intense connection that we simply cannot ignore.
I can only hope it’ll vanish easily once we get back home and we aren’t in one another’s lives anymore.
Out of sight, out of mind, right?
God that feels like a stupid, hollow statement now. I can’t imagine anything taking my attention away from him. No man that has ever come before has made me feel like him. The way his fingers feel against me, the way his lips light me up like a damn Christmas tree, the endless orgasms that really got the better of me.
I know I will never meet another man like him again, I know that for sure. There is just something about Elijah that makes me feel electric.
It’s too much. I jump up from my seat once the plane is level and in the sky, so the seat belt sign is turned off. I can’t just sit around here, looking at him. I’m losing my freaking mind over Elijah. Maybe I should just spend the flight in the bathroom again because it’s safe there and I can hide myself away.
“Olivia is twenty-two years of age. Almost twenty-three. I’m sure this vacation is going to be wonderful, but don’t start thinking it makes up for everything you’ve missed.”
Oh God, the terrible words that I had blurted out to Elijah on the first flight come flooding back to me in a terrible overwhelming wave. Now that I know Elijah better and I understand the situation some more, I know I shouldn’t have said a thing.