“But,”—he steps back, his expression turning serious again—“if he doesn’t have the best fucking excuse for ignoring your texts, I’m going to have to hurt him.”
“If that happens, you can get in line.” I smile innocently, and Cade laughs.
“Bit by bit she’s all coming back. God, help us. I love you, but I’m not sure I’m ready for the full force of the old B to return.”
“Then it sucks to be you. Because she’s already on her way.”
I wasn’t lying when I said Zane gave me the strength to walk away from Nathan, and even if he never calls, even if Cade’s right,which he’s not, and that Zane’s ghosted me—he hasn’t—no one can take that away. Because deep down, I know Zane cares for me. I know he still sees me as the girl I once was, the woman with dreams who knew she deserved the world. The woman who’s starting to reappear.
More than that, he sees the woman I am now and he loves them both.
Which is why I’m worried.
But if I’m wrong, and he’s just taking his sweet-ass time to get back to me, then you better believe that I’m hunting him down.
And he can thank himself for that. After all, it’s his fault I’m finally standing my ground. Finally seeing my worth.
The silence on the mountain has me on edge and when a stick snaps beneath my foot, I startle, almost dropping my phone as my heart races, but at least I’ve still got service.
Taking a deep breath, I let the air fill my lungs and walk a little farther, never letting myself go too far in case he’s unable to call.
I’m being ridiculous. I know that. But I needed to get out of Jenna’s apartment and away from their sympathetic gazes. I needed a moment to think. But I also want to be available if Zane tries to call or finally messages me.
For all I know, Cade could be right. Zane could be running away again after I told him I slept with Nathan the night of Sierra’s accident. But something tells me that’s not what’s going on. Something deep within my soul. The part of me that’s always been Zane’s, even when I wasn’t.
I reach another peak on my hike and check my phone again. One bar. If I go much farther, I’m likely to lose it and I can’t risk that.
What if he needs me? Or worse, what if something happened to him?
When he’d kissed me goodbye at the airport, I could tell something was off, but he assured me that everything was okay, and I have no reason not to trust him. He’s never shown me otherwise. Something must be wrong and—
My phone rings, cutting me off mid-thought and I fumble to answer. My heart races but when I see that it’s my old Jacksonville work friend Kayla, I sigh.
“Hey Kayla. How are you?” I try to keep my voice light but I’m struggling.
“Blair. Thank God.” Kayla’s frantic voice filters through the phone before she sucks in a breath.
“Are you running?”
“No. Well, yes. I ran to find my phone. Remember that famous patient we had, the one involved in that knife fight?”
“Yes?” I whisper, a new fear working its way into my chest.
“He died, Blair.”
Her words echo through my head and I pray I heard wrong. “What?”
“He died,” she repeats, and a stabbing pain shoots through me. “It’s not common knowledge yet, but I remember you asking me and Ruth to take over looking after him, along with his teammate, because you had history there. I thought you might want to know.”
“Oh, God.” My head feels light as the blood drains from my face. I never gave Kayla much to go on back then, but I could tell by her sympathetic expression that she understood. And God, am I grateful.
“You knew them, didn’t you?”
“Only the teammate and this is going to break him.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
