I pull her shattered phone out of my pocket and hand it to Cole.
“You know what to do.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
SUNNY
I sit at the gate,clutching my boarding pass, knee bouncing with each second that passes until boarding time.
I know it’ll hurt them to not say goodbye. But it’ll hurt them more if he finds me. Finds them.
If Ryan is anything, he’s vengeful. And he’d hurt all the people around me first to taunt and torment me. To hurt me.
I have enough cash to purchase a new phone and spend some nights in a hotel. I’ve always wanted to go to Colorado, anyways. It was the earliest flight I could catch getting out of here.
Leaving them is just as hard as it was leaving my parents. But it’s something that needs to be done, whether it’s now or when my contract ends. I’ve been here too long.
People rush all around me, bustling to get to their flights. I pull my hood in tighter, scared to look anywhere and see Ryan’s face.
Despite my efforts, there is a presence that demands my attention. A pull that forces me to look up and meet golden eyes and warm skin.
Someone familiar. Someone who feels like home.
Anthony.
He stands still in the motion of people. A pillar to the family that has somehow accepted me, regardless of my broken pieces that keep cutting them.
A small smile pulls his lips and he places his hands in his pockets with a shrug.
Tears sting my eyes, my pain a physical manifestation as my heart breaks all over again. Neither of us move. We are still among the chaos.
That’s what they’ve all been to me.
I don’t even think before I get up and run into his arms. He wraps them around me tightly as I bury my head in the chest of his button up.
“You’ve got a lot of people worried about you,” he murmurs as he places his cheek atop my head.
A choked sob leaves my lips because tonight may not be the night, but it’s coming no matter what. I have to leave. Tonight proved that.
“Come home, Sunny. Just come home. Finish out your contract. Just come home and we’ll figure out the rest. Day by day, okay?” He squeezes me tighter.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit.
“Just come home. That’s all you can do. Come home and give yourself the next four weeks like you promised yourself, us, your work. Give yourself those four weeks to prepare for the next stop after here. But don’t leave like this. Not like this, Sunny.” He rubs his hand up and down my back.
My lip quivers trying to hold back the sobs.
I have a family here. A family who loves me so much they were scouring the city for me. A family who is begging for just a little more time with me. A family who doesn’t want to say goodbye to me.
“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay.”
Approaching my apartment door, Anthony pauses, giving me a brief glance over his shoulder. “Do you need a minute?”
I contemplate. “I think I’m okay.”
“Alright.” He opens the door, moving aside to let me through.
I walk in to see Tyler sitting on my couch, elbows on knees and hands pressed together at his mouth. Those eyes flick up to me from under his brows, no emotion behind them.
