“I don’t know.”
“Is he moving there? Is he done with Fort Myers?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t he stop to talk to you? Why did he just walk away?”
“I don’t know!” I shout, finally meeting her eyes. “He won’t answer my calls or texts, so I know nothing. Just that he flew home.”
“I…” Tears begin to well up in Marissa’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Rowan. It’s all my fault. I… fuck, I’m the worst.”
“No,” I sigh, pulling her into my chest. “It’s not your fault. He would have snapped eventually. I was being too secretive, too reclusive.”
“B-but I made things worse by opening the door and—”
“Marissa,” I interrupt, and she pulls back enough to look me in the eyes. “I thinkI’msupposed to be the one crying. Not you.”
After a moment, Marissa begins to laugh. It’s a hysterical, emotional type of laughter that only seems to feed the frenzy of our frayed emotions.
“You’re right.” Dragging me by the hand, my best friend finds her way back to her spot on my couch, pulling me down to lean against her.
I allow myself to curl up against her side, soaking in the warmth of her body and the comfort of her hand patting my head.
“What will you do now?” she asks, and I shrug as best I can from this position.
“Nothing, I suppose. I don’t want to intrude on time with his family, so I’ll leave him be for now.” After a moment, I sit up andgive her a determined frown. “But once he’s back, I’ll fight again. Grovel, cry, beg. Whatever needs to be done.”
Marissa nods. “Maybe you should tell him. You know, that you’re soulmates or whatever. That would probably help.”
I scoff, allowing myself to flop back down against her.“Yeah, it’ll help himrun the other way. I’m most definitely not hitting him with the soulmate card before he forgives me for barring him from my home and having a woman here in secret.”
“It wasn’tin secret,” Marissa defends. “I’m not a side piece.”
“Trust me, I know.” I laugh as she smacks my chest. “But you know what I mean. To him, it feels that way—and I can’t blame him. I’d be thinking the same thing.”
“But you said he believed you. That he said he understood we weren’t fooling around.”
“Yes, but understanding it andfeelingit are two different things. Elijah probably feels betrayed or scared. He once told me that he’s never been a very emotional guy, so this is all very new to him, I think.”
“Ah,” Marissa nods. “A relationship virgin. Got it.”
“Jesus,” I mutter.
“Let’s go get brunch,” Marissa says suddenly, and I sit up.
“What?”
She shrugs. “Look, there’s nothing you can do right now. And we’re not about to sit here and cry all morning."
“You’rethe one crying, not me,” I insist, and she just rolls her eyes.
“What places are there to eat at in town?”
I debate for a moment, doing my best to catalog each restaurant and fast-food joint by food type.“For brunch? We only have a few, but the most popular is Tabitha’s Place.”
“Great! Let’s go.” Marissa jumps up, moving past me to her suitcase, where she begins to rummage through her clothes.
“But Bennett works there,” I argue, and Marissa shoots me a confused look.
