Page 15 of Sins of Autumn

Liza grinned as she leaned over to reply through the passenger window, clearly unfazed. “It’ll still be just as fun!”

Jason edged forward, resting his arms on the back of Naija’s seat. “I promise we’ll show you all agoodtime.”

Cherish rolled her eyes. “Hard pass.”

I stifled a laugh, though it wasn’t hard to imagine what my sister was thinking. Cherish was unapologetically a maneater, and Jason’s smirking confidence was probably lighting her internaldo not engagealarms.

My amusement didn’t last long.

As I watched them banter, my thoughts drifted to Wilder. I couldn’t help it. The thought of how he’d react to me going away for the weekend with three guys in tow twisted something in my chest. He’d lose his goddamn mind.

It wasn’t jealousy. Wilder didn’t get jealous. No, it was something deeper and darker than that. He was possessive to a fault and territorial. As much as it frustrated me at times, it also turned me on more than I cared to admit. There had been more than one occasion when that raw, unfiltered intensity had bled into the way he fucked me, leaving me craving more.

Now that same possessiveness felt like a chain around my neck, heavy and suffocating. It shouldn’t have mattered anymore. We were over. I’d reminded myself of that a thousand times since I blocked him. Cumming all over his hand the other day aside.

Unfortunately, that didn’t stop my heart from aching anyway. Seeing him yesterday had done me more harm than good. I lay awake half the night thinking of his mouth on mine and simply being in his arms.

Liza honked the horn lightly, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You good, Autumn?” she called out, flashing a grin.

I forced a smile and gave her a thumbs-up before turning away and going to climb into my sister’s Enclave. Moose barked softly in the back, his tail wagging as Cherish slid into the driver’s seat with an exaggerated sigh.

“This better not turn into a disaster,” she muttered as she started the engine.

Naija leaned out of the Jeep’s window with a wave. “You’re welcome in advance for all the fun we’re about to bring!”

Daniella snorted, grinning as she climbed into the backseat. “Oh, I can’t wait to see how this plays out.”

As the car rolled out of the driveway, I tried to focus on the excitement of the trip, the promise of a weekend away from everything.

The open road stretched ahead, and with it came the faint hope that maybe, just maybe, I could finally breathe again.

“How far is the town we’re heading to?” I asked as I glanced back at Daniella, who was scrolling on her phone.

“Snowcreek,” Cherish answered, her tone tinged with amusement. “Try to remember where we’re going, Autumn.”

“It’s about five hours away, give or take now that we’re on the road,” Daniella replied.

“That’s plenty of time for you to tell us what’s been on your mind.”

The small smile I tried to fake fell flat. I knew she wouldn’t let it go, and Cherish’s sideways glance told me she wouldn’t either. They were a united front when it came to prying things out of me lately.

“Have you told Mom and Dad about Wilder yet?” Cherish took the lead instead, her tone soft.

I shook my head, focusing on the trees blurring past the window. “Not yet.”

“Thanksgiving is in a few weeks,” she said softly, her fingers tapping the steering wheel in a steady rhythm. “They’re going to notice when he doesn’t show. You know how they are. They love him like a damn son.”

The mention of the holidays hit like a gut punch. I hadn’t allowed myself to think that far ahead. I was taking things day by day and that was hard enough.

You never realized how much someone was part of your life until you were forced to face each day without them. Wilder had been such a constant, his presence so natural I’d taken it for granted. The thought of facing those moments without him felt unbearable but Cherish was right. Our parents loved him like a son. That’s who they were, open-hearted and protective.

After my mom died and my OG dad fell apart, they went above and beyond to adopt me, stepping in as if it had always been meant to be. I never once thought of them as anything less than my mother and father. Cherish had always been a sister to me, long before then. She’d stood by me through every heartbreak, every joy, every stupid decision. I knew without a doubt that our parents would want his head if they knew the extent of what he’d done.

Maybe it made me stupid, but I didn’t want them to hate Wilder.

He wasn’t a bad person. He wasn’t even a bad boyfriend. Wilder treated me like gold. He simply wasn’t loyal. I still had trouble wrapping my head around that because everyone always described him as the opposite, me included.

I rubbed my forehead, imagining the looks I would get from the rest of our family. Most of them were just as loving and protective as our parents but there were at least four that had never learned how to read a room. Wilder was gorgeous, wealthy, and successful. I had an aunt and uncle who would think that made his actions excusable, and two petty ass cousins that wanted him for themselves.

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