Page 20 of One Last Time

“Are you going to talk about the letter you got?” Bee asks softly.

I should have known she noticed it. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it just yet.”

She nods in understanding. “How do you think he found you?”

That’s what I’ve been wracking my brain all day trying to figure out. “I’m not sure.”

She makes a humming sound in her throat. “Are you going to call him?”

“Yes, I’m going to call him in the morning and see what he wants. It’s been over three years, I’m not sure what there is to talk about though.” I’m lying, I have so many things I want to ask Silas and yet the one thing I want is to hear his voice. I’ve missed hearing it, I can’t remember what it sounds like anymore, and that thought is what has me crying myself to sleep most nights.

“You’re lying to me. You’ve been in love with Silas Miller since you were fourteen years old, and I have a feeling that you’ll be in love with him until you’re eighty. But, Payton, unless you talk to him, you’re stuck in a life where you’re physically unable to move on. Talk to him, ask him everything that you’ve wanted these past few years. Get everything out in the open and then decide whether or not he’s worth pining over.”

I stare at my best friend, and it’s not for the first time that I wonder how the hell I got so lucky to have her in my life. She knows me better than anyone.

“I’ll call him,” I promise her.

“Do it when you go home, otherwise you’re not going to sleep.” She gives me a pointed stare, and I nod; she’s right.

I just hope that the phone call will be worth it. The last thing I want is to get my heart broken yet again.

CHAPTER 12

Silas

The front door slams shut, and I glance toward it to see who has just walked in. I’m surprised to find Caston storming through the house like a bull.

“Everything okay?” I ask when he passes by me.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” he returns as he moves toward the kitchen.

I get up off the sofa and follow behind him, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this pissed off. When he opens the cupboard for the whiskey, I know something’s happened. “Where’s Saya?” I ask, he left this morning to spend the day with his girl.

He turns his head and scowls at me. “Si…” His voice breaks.

“Cas, fuck man, what happened?”

He pours us both a glass of whiskey. “She left, today was her way of saying goodbye.” He pushes the glass toward me and downs his.

“What? Where has she gone?” What the hell is wrong with females? Payton doesn’t want anything to do with me, I sent that goddamn letter thinking that she’d call, but she hasn’t, and now Saya has broken up with Cas.

“Don’t know. I asked, but she never said.” He shakes his head, and pours himself another glass. “I’m fucking pissed. Something is going on with her and she’s hiding it from me.”

“Take this from someone who’s lost my one.” We’ve spoken at length about how Payton and Saya are the women that are made for us. They’re our soul mates. “The longer you leave it, the harder it’s going to get. Don’t let her leave. Find out what the hell is going on and get her back.”

He brings the glass to his mouth and downs it in one swallow. “She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to be with me anymore. What do you suggest I do, tie her ass to my bed?”

I smirk because that’s exactly what I intend to do when I get Payton back.

“You’re an ass,” he says, but his anger is diminishing. “I need to find out what she’s hiding.”

“Want me to give you the number to the private detective I hired?” I ask him. The guy’s good, he managed to get me a full dossier on Payton within forty-eight hours. Damn, but my girl has become a superstar. She’s made a name for herself in the modeling world. Not only is she one of the most sought after models, from everything Harrison found out, she’s still the sweet, down to earth beauty that stole my heart.

He sighs. “I’m not sure.” He shakes his head as he reaches for my glass. “That’s invading her privacy.”

I stare at him, “And?” I don’t understand his point.

He glares at me as he downs the whiskey from my glass. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

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