Page 56 of Flame Kissed

It wasn’t fair that Veronica could just come in and tear down everything she’d started to build with Leilani. All she wanted was a chance to have a happy relationship, but she couldn’t even have that.

She couldn’t stop picturing the two of them together. She wondered if Veronica would run her fingers through Leilani’s hair the way she did.

She imagined the two of them, going off into the forest alone. Unlike her, Veronica had always been outdoorsy. She loved hiking and camping and all of that stuff Leilani always wanted to do.

Maybe she would be happier with someone who would actually want to do those things with her. Adaze hadn’t even wanted to go on this stupid hike. She only agreed to come because she thought she should make more of an effort to be involved in these parts of Leilani’s life. She didn’t like waiting at home for her all day.

So she said she’d come.

And yeah, part of her knew it was irrational.

In the back of her mind, there was a little voice that knew it wasn’t Lelani’s fault; she hadn’t really done anything wrong.

But it was so hard to hear that voice over her heart pounding in her ears.

She didn’t know what got into her. The second she saw Veronica, it was like she was hurled back in time. At that moment, it felt inevitable that Leilani would betray her if she hadn’t already. It just felt like a statement of fact.

The only thing Adaze could do was get away before the worst happened, leaving her broken beyond repair.

She didn’t think she could take going through something like that again.

No, it was better to just get away while she can.

Sure in her decision, she picked up speed, rapidly approaching the city limits.

She had enough money to do anything she wanted, go anywhere she wanted. There was no reason she couldn’t just sell the penthouse and start over somewhere else.

She’d give Diana a call once she found a town she thought looked nice. The assistant could take care of finishing up her affairs here.

She might not want to move, but that could be okay.

Her work could be done remotely, after all.

Her thought spiral was cut off by her phone ringing.

Adaze’s heart caught in her throat. Had Leilani reached out for her? Maybe she was upset about how fast she left and wanted to make sure she was alright. Did she want to try and fix things?

Then she saw Veronica’s name flashing on the screen and it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured on her.

She hesitated a moment. She didn’t want to talk to her. Hell, she could have gone the rest of her life without ever seeing her again and it would have been too soon.

But she needed to know what was happening.

Maybe Leilani needed to call her and she borrowed Veronica’s phone. It would be strange, but she couldn’t help but hope.

She hit the button to answer before she could overthink it, but once she had, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“Adaze, are you there?” Veronica asked after a moment. She didn’t sound the way she did in her memories. There was none of the grand vibrato she was used to. Her voice was small, quiet. If Adaze didn’t know better, she’d almost say it sounded like she had been crying recently.

Shaking the thought from her head, she found her voice. Yet even as she spoke, the words stuck in her throat like they were coated in a thick glue. “Yeah. I’m here. What do you want?”

There was another pause. “Th-that’s a fair question. I don’t really know actually. To apologize, I guess.”

“Seriously?” she scoffed. “For what?”

“Everything?”

“So this won’t take long then?”

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