“I can be fast.”
She walks away from me and closes the bathroom door. Bile punches into my throat at the sound of the lock clicking into place. What the fuck is going on? Why is she distancing herself from me? My mind races as I climb from the bed, and toss my clothes into my suitcase. Is this her way of telling me it’s over between us, that we had fun here, but now it’s time to get back to the real world? Still, this is so characteristic of the girl I’ve known since I was a kid.
I finish packing and she comes from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She continues to avert her gaze as I stare at her, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why she went drinking with a stranger last night.
When she continues to ignore me, I hurry to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I finish and find her sitting at the kitchen table, fully dressed, her head resting in her hands.
“Killer headache?” I ask.
“Something like that,” she says and finally looks at me. My heart jumps into my throat when I see the blankness in her stare. Have I lost her as a girlfriend, or worse, as a friend?
“Katee, why—”
“We should get going. We don’t want to miss our flight.” She stands and grabs her suitcase.
I dress quickly, tug on my winter clothes, and meet her at the door. In the lobby, we call for a car, and I grab us each a coffee and a muffin for the road. She’s quiet on the way to the airport, and while one part of me wants to press, to find out what’s going on between us, there is another part of me that is terrified of the answer.
We make our way through security and when we’re finally in the air, I turn to talk to her, but she has her head resting on a pillow, her eyes closed. From her breathing, I can tell she’s still awake. Why the hell is she pretending to be asleep?
Because it’s over, dude, and she’s trying to let you know that.
Since I tossed and turned all night, sleep pulls at me too. I close my eyes until we land in JFK for our connecting flight. We grab a bite to eat, and every time I try to engage her in conversation, she changes the subject, talking about safe things, like hockey, her work, how busy she’ll be when she gets back.
Soon enough, we’re on the plane back to Seattle, and once again, she has her head on her pillow. For the life of me I can’t understand the change in her. I’ve always been able to read her but she’s put up a wall that I can’t seem to climb over.
My heart lodges in my throat. Fuck man, maybe I never should have played a stupid sex game with her. I’m pretty sure I fucked things up between us. I can’t let that happen. I can’t let anything come between us. She must be pulling away because she only wants to be friends, but can we be friends after this? Have I totally fucked up our lives?
I try to breathe, but my chest is so goddam tight it’s hard to fill my lungs. I close my eyes, but can’t quiet my mind enough to sleep. My thoughts drift to Ari. As much as I hate it, I’m going to have to face her when I get back. I can only hope she’s come to her senses. If not, I’m not sure what I’ll do. One thing is for certain, I can’t marry her. But will tha
t put my career in jeopardy? I’m so seriously fucked, I don’t know what to do.
I’m exhausted by the time the plane lands in Seattle, and Katee is moving slowly as we make our way to pick up our luggage. We took her car to the airport, and parked it in the lot. From the way she’s acting, I’m wondering if she’s even going to want to drive back home together. Our luggage finally arrives, and we make our way outside. As soon as I push through the doors, I find Arianna waiting for me.
“Luke,” she cries out and throws her arms around me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, as she peppers my face with kisses.
“I’ve missed you.”
I turn to find Katee, but she’s lost in the crowd. I catch a glimpse of her as she heads to the parking lot. “Katee, wait.”
She ignores me and panic races through my blood. Arianna touches my cheek. “Forget about her,” she says and before I know what’s going on, I’m being shoved into a taxi, the driver loading my luggage as Ari slides in beside me.
I try to climb out, but she latches on to me. “What the fuck, Ari.”
“I gave you your week, now it’s time for us to get back on track.”
I let go of the door handle and turn to her. “Is this really what you want? To be married to a guy you don’t love? A guy who doesn’t love you?”
Her smile drops and venomous eyes glare at me. “We can be good together, Luke.”
“No, we can’t.”
“Are you forgetting that I can destroy you?”
“Go ahead and try. I don’t care anymore.”
Her head rear back. “You’re kidding me?”