Page 81 of Heart on Ice

Frankston hated the trip. He howled the entire way even with me and Pierre trying to soothe him. It was a long forty minutes. When we arrive at the Southampton heliport, two cars await us. Harper, Felix, and Meadow jump into the first car. Bitches. Leaving me with Pierre and Frankston in the second. We jump into the car, and there is nothing but silence between the two of us.

“How’s the new apartment going?” I ask, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Great,” Pierre says, staring out the window.

Right. Okay. Noted, you don’t want to talk to me this weekend. I’ll stop trying. Luckily, it’s only a five-minute drive but it felt like hours. We pull in behind the other car, and I shoot Harper daggers which she pretends not to see. Bitch.

Camryn Starr, event designer to the stars, and Nate Lewis, the owner of The Paradise Club, have just gotten back together after some time apart and are there to greet us as are Sam and Kimberly, who happens to be Camryn’s business partner.

“Are you okay?” Sam says, giving me a hug.

“Peachy,” I answer sarcastically.

“Tense flight up, was it?” he asks.

“Frankston howled the entire way, so yeah,” I say as Sam shows me to my room. “Was that the only thing?” he pushes. What is he getting at? Does he know about Pierre and me?

“What else could it be?” I ask him.

Sam rolls his eyes as he opens the door to my room. He walks in and places my suitcase on the rack for me.

“That man out there misses the hell out of you. He just wants to love you, Issy. Why won’t you let him?” Sam says.

I still. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sam glares at me. “Issy, I’ve known you most of my life, you can talk to me.”

“I have nothing to talk about,” I tell him while internally freaking out.

“You’re so stubborn. I love Pierre. He is great. I want to see you happy, and you two were even though you were hiding it. Don’t worry, I’ll be having the same discussion with Harper about Felix. The fact she is letting him move out and in with Pierre is ridiculous. She’s just as stubborn as you are,” he says, giving me a talking to.

“And what are you doing about Kimberly?”

“We aren’t talking about me,” Sam states.

“You’re asking me to take a risk with my heart, and yet you won’t do the same,” I argue with him.

“I get your point, but this is about you guys. If you don’t want to take my advice, then so be it. I’m just saying he is miserable without you. And I think you should give him a chance, a proper chance because I truly believe you two would be happy. That’s all I’m going to say on the issue that I know nothing about. Just to be clear, it’s just from my observations,” he adds.

“I appreciate you wanting to look out for me, but sometimes things are the way they are because it’s for the best.”

Sam shakes his head. “You are going to regret this one day when Pierre is married to someone else because he will eventually move on, and this time, he won’t marry someone like Kitty. He will marry someone who is amazing, and you are going to watch them together and realize you made the biggest mistake of your life letting him go for a second time,” he says before disappearing out the door.

I’m shocked. I sit down on the edge of the bed and burst out crying.

Fuck.

26

PIERRE

Dinner was great, and we are all now sitting around the fire pit drinking wine. Nate Lewis, Sam’s friend and owner of The Paradise Club, is a great guy. When the boys were alone earlier, he was explaining how he got Camryn back after what happened between them. He didn’t go into too much detail, but from what he did say, it was horrible what they went through. He explained how he sought therapy which helped him move through what happened between them. Nate knew that he needed to be patient, just because he was in love with Camryn and ready for forever, didn’t mean she was on the same timeline. She had to sort through her own demons before she was ready to accept forever with him. His words resonated with me. Especially seeing how happy the two of them look together now after the hell they have been through. I wonder if Issy and I could ever look that happy.You did. You were.But she won’t take the risk to find out. I could make her so freakin happy.

“Issy seems to be having fun,” Sam mentions as I look over through the fire to the sand dunes to where Kimberly and Issy are dancing and giggling to the music.

“It’s the wine,” I mumble.

“Same with Kim.” He chuckles. I take a sip of my beer and watch my brother get up and whisper something to Harper as they link hands and walk off along the beach. “We might be brothers in law soon, if my sister will allow him in.”

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