My mind stopped.Sunny is moving? To New York?
"Figured you must have decided to go ahead and stop letting Cole hold you back from living your dream." Max answered Sunny's question with a shrug. "You look done with all this bullshit, and Cole just looks like shit."
He shook his head at me. "Bro, don't know if anybody's ever told you this before, but you really do not have the coloring to pull off scruff. Leave that bad boy aesthetic to me."
"You're moving to New York?" I asked Sunny, turning away from Max.
Now she shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm still going to pay you back. If it takes my entire lifetime."
"Pay him back for what?" Max asked.
We both ignored him. "Sunny, this isn't about the money. I don't care about the money. It was never about that."
"Then what was it about?" she asked. "The power? Is that why you're upset about me taking back mine and making my own decisions?"
"I'm guessing it was about the power," Max interjected, raising his glass.
"Max,shut up," I commanded without looking away from Sunny.
"Sure," Max agreed amiably before turning to look at Sunny as well. "Hey, Sunny Delight, wanna dance?"
"No, thank you." Sunny avertedher eyes from mine. “We're just waiting for Nora to get out here. She'll make the big engagement announcement. Then we'll take a few pictures, and this will be over.”
Over.The word pierced my heart like a nail hammered in. How had we been so happy three days ago, only to end up so miserable now?Love.
"That might take a while." Max took a sip of his bourbon. "When I came downstairs, Grandma was having a deep conversation with some old dude from the board. Looked intense.”
Alarm warning bells sounded in the back of my mind. “Which board member, exactly?” I asked Max.
Max shrugged again. “Hell if I know. All those gray hairs look alike to me.”
I was about to press him for more details when Sunny said, “Okay, I'm just going to leave now."
Fuck.All thoughts of the mystery board member dropped away, and I took her by the hand.“Sunny, wait!"
“Please let go of my hand.” She tugged to get it back from me.
But I didn't—Icouldn't—let go.
“Stay.”My voice sounded dangerously close to pleading. "Stay at the party. Stay in Vegas. Let me fix this. Fix us."
“Cole, there is no fixing us!” Sunny expelled a shaking breath, her icy mask fading away. “I can’t do this with you. I can’tpretendto be in love with you when I’m really in love with you. I can’t stand there while Nora makes some fake engagement announcement when you don’t feel the way I do. I thought I could, but I can’t. Please, I know you want me to be a robot, but I’m not. I’m a woman. With a heart andfeelings—so many feelings—and I can’t pretend to be with you like that anymore.”
I was losing her. She was leaving Las Vegas. My heart raced with the terror of never seeing her again.
"Listen, Sunny, I get where you're coming from. And I can't say the words you want to hear from me, but I truly?—"
I cut off. My weak heart threatening to give out in this new territory I suddenly found myself in.
"You truly what, Cole?" Sunny asked, shaking her head.
I stopped. Swallowed down the fear. Opened my mouth to tell her?—
“Coleridge Niall Benton!”a voice behind me screeched.
I turned to see my grandmother bearing down on us like a vengeful red-haired harpy. With Jasper Whittaker right behind her.
“You’ve been going behind my back, trying to get me kicked off the board? Threatening my friends and their family members to get your way like some kind of bully? Why would you ever do that?”
