“Come on in. Please.”
“I should. I don’t want another one of those horrors to touch me.” My voice sounded normal, which was amazing considering a shiver worked its way up my spine, causing my hair to stand on end.
“Yeah. It’s a million degrees, and the mosquitoes are already gnawing on you,” he said, closing the door.
“They love me,” I muttered. At least something did.
No, that wasn’t fair, and I knew it. My mother had loved me dearly. Lola had fast become a dear friend. And Hana was now married to one of Lennon’s teammates. Hana and Paxton—I’d never call him Naese like the rest of the world did because Hana had introduced him to me as Paxton—were head over heels in love. She’d never shone so brightly, and I was a jealous hag who wanted that level of commitment and caring with my partner.
I was maudlin today—maybe because I was back in Lennon’s proximity, and he seemed much less affected by my presence than I was by his. Suddenly, it just all seemed too much. “You know what? I’m not sure this is a good idea. I think I should go back to the airport and go home.”
Cruz stood so still, he seemed to be carved from marble. His warm brown eyes searched my face. He tucked his chin toward his chest as his beard shifted. “Is that what you want, Vivi?” he asked softly. His eyes held a pain and yearning I didn’t fully grasp but could feel, deep in my chest and gut.
Chapter 15
Chapter
Lennon
* * *
She stared up at me with those silvery eyes. My memory hadn’t done them justice. Her hair was shorter but still thick with bouncy curls. She was stiller, more watchful. But then I was, too.
We had reason to be.
I stepped a little closer to her, a series of fireworks fizzing in my guts as her pupils dilated and those petal pink lips parted. She still wanted me. And I was desperate for her. Yet she seemed to want to turn away from me now.
I clenched my hands into fists to keep from reaching from her.
“Is that what you want, Vivi? To go home and forget me? Forget us?”
Her eyes widened as confusion crossed her expression. Then hurt and fury sparked in her eyes. “You’re the one who erased us,” she muttered as she slapped her arm, trying to stave off a mosquito, looking miserable.
A deep, painful ache exploded in my chest, radiating outward faster than a vicious punch to the solar plexus. That I could have handled. Vivian’s miserable expression and her clear disappointment in me I could not.
“Stay,” I said. “At least for now.” I reached down and grabbed her bag when she hesitated. "I won’t push you to do anything you don’t want to.”
She brushed past me. “Fine.”
Normally, I was confident in my life choices, but Vivian caused me to second and third guess myself. It was an unsettling realization that her opinion mattered that much.
“Want something to drink?” I asked as I set her suitcase down near the stairs. She glanced at it, then at me. Her lips thinned, and her jaw tightened. This was not an expression I’d seen from her before, and another blast of uncertainty exploded in my guts. I needed to get us on the same page.
“Listen, let me explain. I thought the guy in Michigan—the main one who I call the spokesman—I thought he told me he’d hurt you if we were together.”
Vivian’s gaze flew up to mine. “What?” The word was less than a breath.
“That night when we were attacked. I thought…” I shook my head, took a breath. “I had a concussion. You told me I did, but I never put that together with him talking to me.”
Vivian stared up at me, her eyes wide, face pale. “I don’t understand.”
My hands shook so badly. I wanted to hold her to me, bury my nose in her hair. “Want some sweet tea? Mom’s is good.”
She shook her head. “Just…just tell me.”
I wanted to move her into the house, to get her to sit down. I didn’t want to hover over her like some weirdo.
“I’ve had two concussions now. Bad ones. And it seems that when I get that type of brain injury, I hallucinate.”
