“Luke.” I pressed the back of my trembling hand to my mouth. “Where’s Logan?”
Lucas only stared at me, his stare growing more intense the angrier he grew, until he was red-faced and visibly shaking. I stared back, my breath coming in rapid pants, as if my lungs were attempting to keep time with my furiously beating heart.
“Lucas!” I practically screamed his name. “Where is he?”
“Why do you care where he is?” Lucas roared. “Why does it fucking matter?”
He already knew why—I could see it in his eyes and the twist of his mouth—but he still needed to hear me say it, no matter how painful the admission was going to be. For the both of us.
“BecauseI love him.” Though softly spoken, my admission was pained and poignant, akin to the scratch of a nail across a chalkboard, the cry of an injured cat, and the squeal of a poorly played violin, and sounded every bit as bitter as it tasted leaving my lips.
But it was true.
The girl I’d been had loved Lucas with her whole heart. We’d shared a million unforgettable moments. He’d been my safe space, my happy place, and my shelter in a storm when I’d needed someone to hold me close and calm those riotous feelings inside me. But that was then and this was now, and I wasn’t the same person anymore. The woman I was didn’t want to feel safe or comfortable. I didn’t want to subdue my passion. I wanted every heart-pounding, stomach-dipping, half-crazed moment and every intense, exhausting, all-consuming second.
And I wanted each one of those seconds with Logan.
Lucas’s eyes blinked closed. My soft words as effective as if I’d screamed them. His face contorted, a thousand different expressions flickering before he settled on a slow-growing sneer. “Logan’s gone,” he spat. “He left last night.Hours ago.”
He was only confirming what I already knew, even so, I felt my stomach sink straight to my knees. He’d left hours ago. Which meant, depending on how fast he was going, he could be miles away by now.
Cursing, I dropped to the floor, pulling out an old military field pack that had belonged to Davey from beneath my bed. I didn’t have much in it, I’d only just started putting together an emergency pack, but I was hoping I wouldn’t need much—only a few days’ worth of supplies.
“What are you doing?” Lucas snarled as I was stuffing clothing inside the bag. “Are you actually going after him? Do you really think you’ll find him? He’s had hours of walking time and you’re…you.”
Ignoring the slight in favor of pulling a pair of socks on, I turned my attention to lacing my boots up.
“You couldn’t even find me.” Lucas laughed bitterly. “And I was right below your fucking feet.”
I snapped upright, pinning Lucas with an equally cold glare as the one he was leveling at me. Even glaring at him, my eyes began to fill. “Days,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “We searched for you for days and we would have never stopped if I hadn’t gotten sick.”
“But you never went back out, did you? After you’d found this place and you were better, neither of you went looking for me again. You didn’t want to find me, did you?” More horrible laughter rang through the cabin.
I couldn’t speak. There were a thousand things I wanted to say to him, to make him understand, but I already knew he wouldn’t hear me. So what was left? Lucas was entitled to his anger, even if he was wrong. Tears rolling down my cheeks, I shouldered my pack and turned to the door.
“Willow,” he bit out suddenly. “If you walk out of here—if you go afterhim—you’re never going to see me again.”
I froze with my hand on the doorknob.
Lucas.Logan.
My tears fell faster.
Lucas.Logan.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep, shuddering breath and when I opened them again, I opened the door.
“Goodbye, Luke.”
