He nodded. “I could. But then the weather is too unpredictable. Not only that, but the snow is too high, and though I can traverse this land far better than you could in my bear form, it would be extremely difficult for me to do so, exceptionally so with you on my back.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are such a fucking liar. How dare you try and play it like you are concerned for my safety. You didn’t seem too concerned with my feelings when you decided to fuck me while having a girlfriend.”
“For the last time, Cadence, she isn’t my girlfriend and never has been,” he hollered. His voice carried through the trees.
“Bull shit!” I screamed. My words echoed through the trees. I clamped my mouth shut and huffed a hot breath through my nose.
Guy snapped his mouth closed and glared at me. Then the expression on his face changed to one as if I had just slapped him in the face. If he was closer, I probably would have. The more I thought about the idea, the more I wanted to, which caused me to take a step back. I was not a violent person. Slapping him wouldn’t solve anything.
Still, I couldn’t believe he insisted I was the one who was mistaken. But I heard what I heard, and he could deny everything all he wanted. I knew the truth. And it was too late to take everything back now.
“Cadence, believe it or not, I have your safety at heart. If it wasn’t going to put your life at risk, I would gladly take you home,” he said. “Since that is not possible, due to it being dangerous, why don’t you come inside and give me a chance to explain?”
I pressed my lips together as rage boiled through my blood. I just couldn’t believe him. And I hated even more that he was right about going home on my own wasn’t safe. I was trapped.
For now.
Anger continued to burn me from the inside out as I stormed past Guy, back into the cabin, up the stairs, and into my brother’s room. I slammed and locked the door, in case Guy decided he wanted to try and be cute and worm his way back into my bed. Or fill my ears with more lies and rotten excuses. I was sure he had a whole list of them… and well-rehearsed too.
I would be fine to wait right where I was until the snow melted enough that I could go home.
I took a seat on the bed as the sheer emptiness of the room stared me in the face. My heart did a strange dip. And crippling sadness washed over me. I couldn’t fight it off any longer. My heart broke, despite my efforts otherwise.
I really thought Guy was the one. And though I might have barricaded myself, keeping Guy away from me, I had locked myself away in the very room we had sex. And all those memories came rushing through my mind like a tidal wave of misery.
I was ashamed.
I felt betrayed.
And I was starting to believe sleeping with Guy was a horrible mistake. One I couldn’t take back. What sucked even more was he had mentioned that I would regret having sex with him in the morning... just before we had done the dirty deed.
And it turned out to be true. He was right. I did regret giving him that special piece of me.
I was a fool for not heeding his warnings.
I pulled out my phone as tears flowed hot down my cheeks. There was only one person I could count on in a moment like this. He might not be happy with what I would have to say, but I didn’t have anyone else I could turn to.
I had gotten myself into a pickle and had no clue how to get myself out.
I clicked on my brother’s number and then tapped the green button. The line rang through. Then his voice mail picked up. “You’ve reached Luke. Not able to answer right now. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you soon. Thanks.”
The high-pitched beep followed a few seconds later.
I sucked in a breath and sniffed. What was I going to say? I didn’t have a clue. “Call me when you get this, I guess.”
I ended the call and stared at the wall, falling into the desperate aching in my heart.
A knock softly tapped on the door. I snapped my attention to it. “Go away, Guy.”
My voice was filled with bitterness.
“I just want to talk. Please, give me the chance to prove to you that you got it all wrong,” he said, voice filtering through the door.
I shook my head and fell onto the bed, covering my head with a pillow. I continued to cry into the sheets until I fell asleep, desperately wishing for the snow to have melted when I woke up.
* * *
Some hours later,my phone pulled me from my emotion-induced sleep. At first, I wasn’t sure where it was, and I wasn’t conscious enough to comprehend I wasn’t in my bed. After taking several seconds to try and reacquaint myself with my surroundings, I remembered I was in my brother’s room and that helped me figure out where my phone was. But by the time I picked it up, the ringing had stopped.