I can’t. I’m so embarrassed right now. Even though Knox and I had a fight, I was still singing his praises to the two of them moments ago. I guess Knox has finally decided that I’m not worth waiting for anymore. Or has he been cheating on me this entire time? Even though we didn’t finish having sex last night and he didn’t come inside me, he wasn’t wearing a condom. Do I need to go get tested? My mind flits about like a pinball machine with one question after another. The masochist part of me takes out my phone and I text Knox.
Me: Everyone was asking where you were tonight.
“Good idea. Catch him in a lie,” Shelby exclaims as she and Trevor crowd over me and watch as the three little dots move on my phone, alerting us Knox is replying to my message.
Knox: Didn’t think Fallon would be too happy if I came.
Me: So where are you?
We wait for several minutes.
Knox: At Devon’s. Don’t wait up.
“That sleazy, no good, two-faced jackass!” Shelby shouts at my phone.
“Let’s take her back to the restaurant. Fallon and Trevor should still be there,” Austin tells Shelby.
I snap out of my haze of disappointment. “No. Fallon already wants to kill Knox for something that happened today.”Why am I still protecting Knox? “I just need to be alone for a while.”
“Over my dead body,” Austin says.
Shelby agrees. “Austin’s right. You shouldn’t be alone right now. Why don’t we go to my place?”
I love my friends but sometimes, like now, I wish they would back the hell off. “I’ll text you both later to let you know when I get home, but I need some space to think.”
“Rory, for fuck’s sake,” Austin replies, not happy one bit, but he releases his grip on my arm and hands me the keys to his car since he’s the one who drove us tonight. I kiss him on the cheek, then Shelby.
“Can you drive Austin home?” I ask her.
She nods, her mouth turned down with worry. “Yeah, I can do that. If I don’t hear from you in two hours, I’m calling in the big guns.” I know she’s referring to my two very large, very menacing brothers.
“I will,” I promise her.
It takes me a few minutes to make it back to Austin’s BMW. I drive around aimlessly for almost an hour before parking in the resident lot of the apartments I grew up in. I haven’t been back here since that night when Angelica’s boyfriend attacked me.
Angelica died of an overdose a few months after I moved into the Montgomery mansion. Fallon handled all the funeral arrangements for me so I wouldn’t have to. How much my life has changed since that night; how much has stayed the same. I’m still the emotionally scarred girl who feels abandoned and not worthy of love even though I have so many people around me that have shown me the opposite. I am loved. People don’t always leave.And sometimes, they come back.
Without questioning what I’m about to do, I hit call on my phone hoping the phone number hasn’t changed.
“Emergency,” I say when the line picks up.
Chapter 39
Iopen the door to my rented condo, more nervous than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Even more so than right before I walk out into a stadium to the roaring cheers of tens of thousands of fans. Standing at my door with her head bent low is Aurora, and I don’t think my heart has thumped so hard or so fast as now when I look at this girl—this woman—who I have missed so desperately the past five years.
She looks the same, but different too. Her hair is still the glossy, dark blonde I remember but slightly shorter. Her face is more mature, more elegant. From the way her silk blouse and skinny jeans are molding to her shapely figure, Aurora definitely has filled out in all the right places. I wonder what she thinks of me. Am I the same boy she remembers? I know I’ve gained about ten pounds in muscle mass since high school.
I let go of the doorknob and swipe my sweaty palms across my tailored slacks. I don’t know what made her call me or brought her to my door at midnight, but I’m not letting her leave until we talk. Until she understands why I left her and why I’m back. Until she understands that I never stopped loving her.
I go to touch her hand and she flinches, so I drop my hand back to my side. “Please, come in,” I tell her and open the door wider so she can walk inside.
I physically ache when her cherry blossom scent teases my nose as she timorously takes a hesitant three steps forward.
“I shouldn’t have come. I don’t know what I’m thinking anymore.” Her voice carries so much confusion and pain. I’m terrified she’s about to bolt so I quickly shut and lock the door.
“I’m so glad you called,” I begin, wanting to ease some of the tension between us.
Aurora’s gaze dances around the open concept condo, landing on anything other than me.
