Page 107 of Aftermath
He pulled away, respecting my hesitation, knowing my family watched nearby. I was never a fan of PDA. With a quick glance back to the beach, I saw my mother smirking down at her book. Either she reached the romance in it, or she had been watching us in the water.
I wanted to duck beneath the waves and never come back up, realizing she’d seen everything.
“Stop worrying about it,” Stone said. “I don’t care who sees me kissing you.”
“She’s never going to leave me alone about it,” I groaned.
“She will if you tell her you were kissing your boyfriend.” His eyes locked on mine. I didn’t expect the words from his mouth, and I scrambled to form of a response.
“Boyfriend?” was all I was able to repeat back to him.
“I mean, only if you want,” he said. “I know Quantico is far, but there’s a place for you if you want to come.”
“I can’t,” I said before I could stop myself.
His face fell a bit, but he trained it back to neutral like the agent he was.
“I just got my life back here,” I said. “I just…I can’t right now.”
I fought back tears stinging my eyes, terrified of hurting Stone and torn that I couldn’t go with him.
“I understand,” he said. There was barely any emotion on his face. He ducked in and kissed my cheek. “Truly, it’s all right.”
We stayed in the water a little bit longer before rejoining my family. I couldn’t shake the awful feeling of turning Stone down.
“Mallory was telling us you haven’t been at your apartment lately,” my mother said, giving a knowing look to Stone.
“I fear that’s my fault,” Stone said, making her smile.
He left it at that, and I wanted to toss myself back in the ocean and disappear.
After his second of disappointment, Stone bounced right back to his normal self. He chatted with my family and continued to be an absolute know it all in the best way.
It hurt me more than he knew to say no, to let this be the way our last day of normal was spent. I hated every second of it, but I slapped on a smile. If not for myself, then for Stone. He had done everything to give me my life back; he deserved my full attention, even if I couldn’t give in to every last one of my desires.
* * *
Stone spent his very last day packing and cleaning the rental. He was leaving the next morning but staying with the rest of his team in a hotel for the night.
I packed my own items and threw them into my car. Alonzo and Birdie were at my feet all day, sensing a change.
I spotted Alonzo following Stone, the cat finally warming to him. It broke my heart knowing in less than a day, he’d be gone.
I could always visit Quantico, but would that be causing us more pain than good?
I kept trying to convince myself I’d move on. When Stone left, I’d go back to my apartment and spend my nights with Mallory, drinking wine and laughing at how terrible dating was.
Yet, there’d always be the pain of what could’ve been with Stone.
I pushed the thought out of my head, helping Stone wipe down the kitchen counters.
The bottle of scotch still sat untouched. He’d never once given in to the temptation of it.
“Don’t forget to pack this,” I reminded him, knowing Nelson didn’t need such a nice bottle of alcohol.
Stone followed my gaze to the glass bottle, and I sucked in a breath as he picked it up and unscrewed the cap. My stomach sunk, and I almost reached out to snatch it from him. He’d made it this far—I wouldn’t let him go back to that dark pit.
Instead, he turned to the sink and dumped the entire thing. My jaw fell open, and I stared in both horror and surprise. The first washed away quickly, realizing he wasn’t going to drink it.
