Page 80 of Broken Hearts

She collapses against me, breathing hard as she buries her face in my neck. My hands are back on her ass, holding her to me, never wanting to let her go, my dick still buried inside her. I walk us backward into the water, until it’s deep enough that we are hidden.

“Wow,” she eventually breathes out, lifting her head from my shoulder, a sexy smile on her face. “I think this might be my favorite place in the world too.”

I smile, leaning in to kiss her so I don’t blurt out that anywhere she is, is my favorite place. “I’m willing to share it with you,” I whisper, my lips brushing against hers.

Her smile widens as she kisses me again before asking, “And you’ve never seen anyone else here?”

Smirking, I glance down at where her tits are pressed against my chest. We might be mostly hidden beneath the water, but we’re still in a pretty compromising position if anyone were to come along. Not that I expect them to, because I have never legitimately seen anyone here. Never brought anyone here either.

“Nope,” I say.

Sage glances over her shoulder to where our swimsuits lie on the rocks, well, half of hers considering the top half is on the other side of the pond.

Chuckling, I reluctantly let her go. “Come on, let’s get you covered back up,” I tell her as we walk over and get dressed.

We hang around in the pool for a bit longer, both of us lying back as we stare up at the sky, not really talking about anything.

I want to ask her what we’re doing. What she feels in this moment and whether she’s really going to be able to walk away from this, but I’m too scared to ask, already knowing the answer she’s going to give me.

Everyone leaves.

My dad.

My mom.

Every foster parent who couldn’t handle me.

Mitch.

Why would Sage be any different, especially when she has a life in New York?

Eventually, we both climb out of the pond, drying off before making our way back to the car.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Sage says, taking my hand in hers.

Lifting our joined hands to my mouth, I brush a kiss across her knuckles. “Anytime.”

Back at the shop, I head home to take a quick shower. Just before Sage walks up to the apartment, though, she calls out to me.

“Nate, can you come back when you’re done? There’s something I want to talk to you about?” She’s watching me, an unreadable expression on her face as she waits for my answer.

A heavy weight settles in my stomach because I already know what this is. And it doesn’t matter how prepared I think I am about the fact that she’s leaving, I know this is still going to destroy me.

Fuck.

I swallow hard, nodding once as I say, “Yeah, of course. Give me ten?” Sage nods, and I turn and head inside.

I shower quickly, just wanting to get this over with. I know it’s going to hurt. I know she’s about to rip my fucking heart out when she tells me she’s leaving, that she’s selling the shop and going back to New York. But I just need it to be done. I remember when I was a kid, it wasn’t ever the hit that hurt so much as the waiting around for it to happen. The feeling of never knowing when they were going to strike, catch me off guard.

That was the hardest part.

The punches I could learn to take, and this will be no different. I mean, yeah, it’s going to hurt worse than anything else, but hurt I can deal with. Hurt I have been dealing with my entire life.

“Hey,” she says, smiling as I walk inside.

“Hi,” I reply, walking over to the open doors to the balcony.

Sage follows after me, standing beside me as we both stare out at the ocean, the sun low in the sky. My heart is pounding in my chest as my hands grip the railing and I will myself not to react, not to say or do anything when she tells me she’s leaving.

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