Page 85 of The Kiss Countdown

“It means I need to go be with my parents. It’s time for us to quit playing house. We came into this agreement so that you could focus on your job, and I could focus on mine. Well, mission accomplished, don’t you think?” Hurt and confusion play across his face, so I avert my gaze to the wall. “We can stop pretending things between us are real.” I suck in a deep breath to get out the next words. “Let’s stop pretending that we’re really engaged.”

“What?”

At the sound of Mrs. Rogers’s voice, my stomach drops.

There’s no telling when she arrived, but she steps from behind Vincent with a bridal magazine clutched in her hand. She glances between us, waiting for an explanation.

Unable to hold her gaze, I look helplessly to Vincent. He’s barely reacted to his mom’s unexpected appearance, but he finally takes his eyes off me and shakes his head. “Momma, please. Not right now.”

“What’s going on?” Mrs. Rogers demands. “What did she mean by stop pretending you’re really engaged?”

“Not right now, Momma. I’m trying to talk to Amerie.”

Mrs. Rogers’s laugh borders on hysteria. “Oh, you mean yourfakefiancée?”

All I hear is blood rushing through my ears. I might throw up right here on the marble floor, as horrible as I feel. God, please don’t let me mess up this beautiful floor after being caught in my lie.

Vincent turns to his mom and picks up the hand she isn’t using to strangle the magazine. “I know you have questions, and I have not only some explaining but also a lot of apologizing to do. But please, let me talk to Amerie.”

Allowing herself to be momentarily placated by Vincent’s earnestness, Mrs. Rogers purses her lips before walking away without so much as a glance at me.

Vincent sucks in a deep breath and turns to me, jaw tense like he’s steeling himself for a fight. I want to smooth the tension from his face, but I know touching him would undo all the resolve I have.

“I want to make something abundantly clear,” he says, voice firm and unyielding. “We arenotplaying house. What I feel for you isn’t fake. You know that.”

Of course I know Vincent has feelings for me, but that doesn’t change how we both want,need, different things. He needs to concentrate on his mission, his career. I need to be with my mom. My mom, who’s been keeping me in the dark, leaving me with no clues about her health.

I need to remember how close I came to losing everything before I ever met Vincent. Because with his life that’s anything but stable, if something were to happen and I lost him... I’d never recover. I need to protect my heart.

Before I can say anything else to make him see it’s best we part ways now, as friends, he cups my cheek and lowers his voice. “I’m in love with you, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.”

My breath hitches and I look at him with wide eyes.

“I know whatever happened to your mom today musthave scared you, but don’t pull away from me. Let me be there for you.”

The moment is interrupted by the light tunes of Vincent’s ringtone as his phone goes off in his pocket. It’s out of place in the heavy stillness surrounding us, but it helps to serve as a wake-up call. Vincent wants to be here for me. But how is that possible when he’ll be gone any minute?

He pulls his phone out, staring at the screen for a few seconds before he silences it. It’s selfish and stupid, but hope blooms that he’ll tell me he’s going to cancel the trip and stay with me. Then he lets his head fall and runs a hand along the back of his neck, and I know we’re only delaying the inevitable. I can’t bear to watch how dejected he looks, so I let my gaze slide to the window. His Benz is parked on the side of the street, and I see his suitcase in the back seat.

“You have to go,” I whisper. “Today it’s Florida. Tomorrow the moon. What’s next after that? Mars? You can’t always be here for me.”

I know I must sound just like Vincent’s mom, because a pained grimace flashes across his face before he shakes his head.

“No. After I get back from my mission, we continue building this life we’ve started. We enjoy every single second we have together for as long as we can.” He leans his forehead against mine. “Tell me you’ll be home when I get back. Please, Amerie.”

From the beginning, every other time he’s asked me to do something, I haven’t been able to resist. But now my throat hurts from the pressure of holding back tears. It’s just all too much. My mom. Vincent’s profession of love. No doubt I’ve just made everything ten times harder for himwith his mom now that she realizes the game we’ve played. I can also say goodbye to planning their vow renewal. Hell, I can say goodbye to planning anyone’s events. I’m not cut out for doing anything but letting people down.

Grabbing the hand he still has resting against my face, I breathe him in one more time. “Thank you so much for giving me a place to stay. For being a great friend. But we both knew this wouldn’t last.” I slide the ring off my finger and place it in his hand. “Please, concentrate on your mission and just forget about me.”

Vincent’s tormented gaze pierces right through me as I rush to grab my purse and bolt from the house.

Once I’m out of the neighborhood, I pull into the nearest parking lot and finally let all my tears fall. It’s a year’s worth of sadness and anger and regret, and when I’ve cried so much my body is weak, I pull out my phone. Taking in a deep breath I power it up and place it to my ear.

My mom answers on the third ring. “Mimi?”

“Hey, Mom. Is it okay if I come stay with you and Daddy?”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

---