Page 96 of Unexpected Kisses

Panic quickly fills my body. “Is that safe? What if he has an accident or something? How will he get help?”

“He knows what he’s doing, and it’s really none of your concern anymore, is it?”

I prickle at his tone. “What do you mean? I still care about him. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

He chuckles, but it’s completely fake. “You already hurt him, Sarah. That’s why he took off.”

My eyes prickle and a boulder quickly forms in my throat knowing I’ve hurt AJ. I try to swallow, but it’s stuck. I glance around the room, trying to fight off what’s happening inside my body, but I can’t catch a breath. I bring my palm up to my throat and pat the base, trying to dislodge whatever’s trapped in there, but nothing happens. I can’t breathe and my heart races. Panic overwhelms me and the more I try to suck in air, the less air I’m getting. Everything’s starting to spin when strong hands grasp my biceps.

“Sarah!” I’m shaken, but nothing helps, I can’t get any oxygen into my lungs. My legs tremble and I’m sure Dylan’s grip on my arms is the only thing keeping me standing. “Sarah!” he shouts, shaking me more vigorously. “Fuck!”

I feel him push me into a chair and fold me almost in half so my head is down between my legs. This keeps happening to me and I’m sick of it. I need to learn to manage my emotions better.

“Sarah, I want you to take deep breaths with me. Okay? Breathe in, one, two, three. Hold it. Breathe out, one, two, three.” I focus on his deep, calming voice and follow his instructions. He repeats the process several times, kindly stroking his hand soothingly up and down my spine.

When I feel I’m finally back in control, I sit up and wipe my face with shaky hands. Finally, my heart feels like it’s slowing to normal speed and my lungs don’t feel as though they’re on fire. “Thank you,” I murmur. I’m so damn embarrassed. I push my sweaty hair away from my face and give Dylan a timid but grateful smile. “Sorry about that.”

He leaves the office and comes back with a glass of water. Handing it to me, he studies me closely, creases between his blond eyebrows. “Does that happen often?”

“Uh, when I’m super anxious about something it can sometimes happen.” I shrug and take a sip of the cool water. It seems to be happening a lot lately.

“Are you gonna be all right?”

“Yeah. But could I ask you a favor? I know I have no right, but if you hear from AJ, can you please let me know. I need to know he’s okay. I’m sorry I hurt him, and I came here to apologize and ask his forgiveness. I was hoping we could put it behind us.”

He nods, studying me like I’m some sort of alien being. “Sure. Give me your number and if I hear from him, I’ll let you know.”

I smile gratefully. “Thank you.” I give him my number and stand to leave.

“You’re not gonna stay here?”

I tuck my still damp hair behind my ear. “No. I don’t think it’s right for me to stay until I know he’s forgiven me.” Dylan nods. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

“No problem. Take care, bye.”

CHAPTER40

–aj–

Without Sarah beside me,sleep was impossible to come by last night, so I decided to pack and come to one of my favorite climbing spots for a few days. It’s not too far from the city, but far enough away that I can leave everything behind. Dylan understood my need to take a few days when I told him I’d be back by Friday. I just needed enough time to clear my head and work out if there’s any way I can move forward with Sarah. She made it pretty clear her job is more important than me or a relationship with me. Not gonna lie, that fucking stung. I thought we were building something real, but clearly I was wrong.

I look up at the rock face, studying it and planning my route. There’s a buttress to the right, but it’s a little off the path that looks safest. The climb isn’t that high, only about thirty feet, but I’ll be free climbing it on my own, so I need to ensure I take the safest path possible. Attaching my chalk bag, I rub the ball of chalk between my hands ensuring I have decent coverage. Testing the rock, I make my first hold and follow with my feet, testing the stability. I’m only a foot off the ground, but it feels great to have the sandstone beneath my fingers and the sun on my back. I work my way up carefully, following the path I mapped out visually before I started.

When I’m about fifteen feet from the ground, a bird swoops low, landing on a ledge just above me. It peeks over the edge like it’s watching what I’m doing. I smile at it, contemplating how brave it must be to come so close to a human. Returning my focus to the rock face, I grumble when I notice the distance to my next suitable hold. It didn’t look that far from the ground but I’ll need to stretch wide and push hard with my legs if I have any chance of reaching it. I take a deep breath and push up with my legs and stretch out with my arm, but miss and at the same time, the rock beneath my other hold gives way.

“Oh shit!”

My heart falters as I begin to free fall. My head connects with something hard and pain shoots through my skull.

Everything goes black.

* * *

Pain radiates through my body and I try to open my eyes. The heaviness of my body is foreign to me, like my limbs are weighed down by heavy boulders. A woman’s voice sounds far in the distance and I’m cold all the way to my bones. Shivering hurts.Everything fucking hurts. I groan. Well, I think I do.

“Sir. Sir.” Hands squeeze my shoulders. “My name’s Violet. Help is on the way. We’ve got you. You’re going to be okay.” I think I nod if the throbbing in my head is anything to go by. I’ve never felt agony like this before. It’s too much so I stop moving, hoping this is a bad dream.

Blackness infiltrates from the outer edges of my mind, swamping me, taking me under again.

---