He had been dead serious about that too.
I was thankful that the club was calling because having him follow me all the way back to Providence would’ve weakened my resolve.
Actually, it would’ve shattered entirely.
“We have to go,” he pulled back from me, his eyes a storm of emotions. They held untold depths, I knew that. But something was simmering in them. A knowing.
He couldn’t be reading my thoughts, of course. But he saw me better than anyone else did, and I was struggling to hide the pain from my expression.
I held my breath, waiting for him to say something, address the tension between us, what was being left unsaid. But he didn’t say anything. His eyes just roved over my face as if he were committing it to memory.
“Drive safe,” he ordered. “You let me know the second you arrive back in Providence.”
I arched a brow. “Don’t pretend you don’t have someone tracking my phone.”
His brow did not quirk, and his mouth did not twitch. “Let me know anyway.”
I pursed my lips and fought against tears, nodding.
When I failed, Elden wiped away a tear that escaped.
He lifted his thumb and brought it to his mouth.
In the midst of all of this, my stomach fluttered with desire, seeing him taste my sadness. He’d tasted everything else.
Elden rested his forehead against mine.
I opened my mouth to say it. Say it all. But he knew it all.
So there was nothing to say.
He kissed me once more, gently, close mouthed before opening my door for me. I took one last look at him, my bearded, brooding biker in black, staring at me in a way that every woman would give their left tit for.
It took everything I had to drive away from him.
ChapterFifteen
I did not seeor speak to Elden until I came home for mid semester break.
He called.
I stared at the phone, at his name, with tears running down my face. Later, there were no tears, but there was a margarita in my hand.
Sariah was careful not to mention Elden. When I’d arrived home from the motel, she’d shrieked, “Welcome Home! Are you pregnant yet, you kinky bitch?”
I’d stared at her for ten seconds then burst into tears.
Sariah had reacted quickly, yelling at Henri to make the margaritas and for Ollie to whip up some cookie dough.
“And if anyone says shit about salmonella or whatever the fuck, I will cut them!” she screamed as she told Ollie not to put the cookies in the oven.
I didn’t tell her the specifics. Didn’t tell her that I took the coward’s way out by essentially ghosting him.
I was too ashamed to tell my brave, fearless friend that I couldn’t show the man I loved the respect of breaking up with him in person. Or even by phone.
Elden got the picture.
He’d called me. Still did. He didn’t leave messages. Didn’t text. Elden wasn’t really a text kind of guy. But he continued to call. Long after he understood what I was doing. Because he was showing me that he wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t giving up on us.