Fuck.
I scrubbed my hand down my face.Wherethe hell was she?
My bare feet swished across my sand-spattered driveway asIrounded the house in nothing but my boxers.Ididn’t give a shit if the summertimers saw me.Ijust needed to find her.
I picked up my pace, my feet slapping the wooden boardwalk that crested the sand dune.
My pulse slowed the momentIsaw her silhouette in the moonlight.Aurorasat on the bottom step, staring out at the onyx sea.
She looked over her shoulder asIneared.
“What are you doing out here,Roar?”Iasked asIsat down and wrapped my arms around her from behind. “Youokay?”
She leaned back into me. “Couldn’tsleep.”
“You knowIdon’t believe that.”Ipressed a kiss into her hair. “What’son your mind, baby?”
She didn’t say anything; she just swept her hair away from her face as the wind picked it up.
I tightened my arms around her. “Ican’t make it better if you don’t tell me what it is.”
“I had a really good time tonight.”Herwords were carried off by the sea breeze like a stolen secret.
“And that made you upset?”
It was then thatIsaw the glassiness blurring her eyes. “It’sgonna hurt when it’s over.”
“Why do we have to worry about that now?”Irested my chin on top of her head and held her as close asIcould, even though she was slipping through my fingers like sand in the undertow. “Whathappened to enjoying it while it lasts?”
“BecauseI’mhurting you the longerIpretend that this could actually be something.”Shewiped her eyes. “IthinkI’mhurting myself, too.”
The ocean churned as it brewed for a storm, matching the unsettled acid in my gut.Iworked my jaw back and forth. “Thenstop pretending that it could actually be something and admit that it already is.”
“Jack . . .”Auroradropped her head into her hands.
WasIabout to do it?WasIgoing to throw out those eight letters?WasIgoing to use those three little words as aHailMary?
For a minute,Irehearsed how it would sound in my head.Butthe momentIopened my mouth to tell her thatIloved her, she spoke up.
“I got an offer on the house.”
My world came crashing down with only seven words.Everysense was dulled, andIwent numb.
“What?”Ishook my head, trying to break free from the stupor, but it was no use. “But. . . you haven’t put it on the market.It’snot even done yet.”
“It was a reality check,Jack.Aseven-figure reality check.Ihave to sell the house, andIhave to leave.”Hervoice had an edge to it thatIhadn’t heard since she crash-landed onCedarIsland.
“How the hell did you get an offer this fast?Whoeven knew it was an option?Noone around here has that kind of money.”Myone-bedroom cottage paled in comparison to the behemoth that loomed next door.
She sniffed back her tears and sucked in a steadying breath. “Oneof the firefighters who came to my party told some real estate tycoon he knows inBeaufortthat it was coming up for sale soon.Thereal estate guy’s company—LawsonInternationalor something like that—hunted down my mom since she owns the property, and she forwarded me the email they sent while we were getting ready for bed.They’llbuy it as-is.Idon’t have to lift another finger.Mymom gets the investment back andIget my life back.”
“So that’s it?”Ileaned back and blew out a sharp breath. “Justlike that.”
“We knew this was how it was going to end.”
“But not now!”Ishouted.Theocean roared in response as the waves piled in, one on top of the other. “Iwas supposed to have more time with you!Moretime to?—”
“To what?” she cried as she pushed to her feet to pace. “Toconvince me out of something we both knew was inevitable?”
