Page 64 of In Flight

But none of that matters. Not anymore.

Because Isaac is walking away.

Fourteen

AN HOUR LATER, I’Mcrying as I haul my suitcase onto my bed, unzipping it and staring at the jumbled clothes and toiletries inside.

I left my maid of honor dress in Boston, but I stuffed my expensive burgundy dress from the rehearsal dinner into my case with the rest of my stuff instead of hanging it carefully in a garment bag. It’s hopelessly wrinkled now. It might never recover.

Like my heart.

I tried so hard to be smart and mature about this relationship, but I ended up with a broken heart anyway. Isaac probably hates me now. Everything that was so pure and strong and beautiful between us has been crushed like my poor, pretty dress.

Even if the relationship didn’t have a future, the bright memory of it should have endured. But I ruined it.

Maybe I’m doomed to ruin everything.

Or maybe what I had with Isaac—even only temporary—wasn’t as special as I believed.

I’m working up toward another round of sobs when the sound of my doorbell breaks into my momentum. In a bewildered daze, I trudge toward my front door, opening it without even checking through the peephole.

I freeze at the sight of Isaac on the other side of the doorway.

He’s breathing heavily, perspiring slightly with his hair standing practically on end. His face twists when he sees me.

“I’m so sorry, River,” he bursts out. “I’m probably the last person in the world you want to see right now after the way I acted, but I can’t leave it like this. This thing—with you—has meant too much to me too. I can’t let it end the way I did back at the airport. I understand what you were saying, and I’d never push for something you didn’t want. But please...” His voice breaks. He sucks in a ragged breath. “Please let’s say a better goodbye.”

I make a gurgling sound and nod repeatedly since it’s the only method I currently have for communicating.

Isaac moves into my apartment, closing the door and locking the dead bolt before he turns to face me again. He steps forward and takes my tear-streaked face in both his hands. Tilts his head down. “Can we say goodbye like this instead?”

“Yes.” I’m still nodding. I can’t stop. “Yes, please.”

He kisses me then, and it changes the world.

Changesmyworld anyway.

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