Page 96 of Away With You
He frowns, tilting his head like he’s trying to compute my words. “Leaving? Where’s she going?”
“Home. Back to London. She says she needs space.”
“And you’re giving it to her?”
I bark out a laugh. “What would you have me do? Force her to stay and love me back?”
He doesn’t smile, doesn’t laugh. Instead, he stalks towards me, stopping mere inches from me. “You don’t let her go. You make her listen and make her understand. Believe me, man, if you let her leave without fighting for her with every breath you have, you will regret it.”
The passion and the certainty in his voice give me pause. He sounds like he’s speaking from experience. “She wants to go home to figure this out. She asked for space.”
“Then you give her the flight home. And then you follow her back to London, and you make her understand just how much you love her. You do love her, don’t you?”
“More than anything.”
A small smile tickles his lips. “Then go fight for her.”
Something a lot like hope blooms in my chest. Katie had asked for space, for time, to figure this out. I’ll give her the nine-hour flight to think about what she wants, and then I’m going to beg her for another chance. I’m going to beg her to figure it outwithme, rather than by herself. I’m going to lay it all on the line one more time. Katie is worth it.
“You’re right. I need to tell her again how much I love her and how all-in I am with her.”
He nods, and like a man on a mission, I grab a suitcase and start throwing my clothes into it, stopping only to draw in a breath and ask one more favour of him.
“Theo, I need you to get me on the next flight out of here.”
CHAPTER 25
KATIE
“It’s almost midnight. Do you want to watch the fireworks together on TV?”
Jade looks over at me from her spot on the other side of the couch, her perfect brows drawn down in concern. Given that I’ve been huddled under a blanket crying non-stop since I arrived rain-soaked and very much unexpected, I don’t blame her. In the hour since, she’s fed me tea and biscuits and given hugs and soft words of comfort. She’s been the perfect friend, only demanding answers once, listening to a summary of the shitshow I left behind, and then sitting quietly when the sobbing started and kept going.
“Sure,” I answer listlessly.Why not watch other people celebrate the end of the year and the start of a new one? It’s good that other people are enjoying this fun time of the year.
“Okay.”
We sit and watch the fireworks display over the Thames, the quiet between us broken by my shuddering breaths and my sniffles. It’s been almost twelve hours since I fled St. Lucia, and I’m spiralling further downhill with each passing minute.During this terrible period of time, I’ve dissected and replayed every moment since I bumped into Nathan on the street and he turned my simple world upside down, and I find I can’t make sense of any of it. Sure, at the start, it all seemed straightforward. We were two friends reconnecting, then we pretended to be a couple, then it became something more, something real, and then I did something idiotic and fell for him. Leaving myself wide open for some very real heartbreak.
“So, he wasn’t with that woman?” Jade says out of nowhere, like she’s been stewing on this and can’t understand why I’m here if nothing happened between them.
Good luck with that, bestie. I can’t fully understand why I’m here myself.
“No, he said nothing happened.”
“And you believe him?” she probes.
I blow my nose. “I do. But it turns out that was just a catalyst. A way to send me into a deep emotional spiral.”
She shuffles closer and lays her head on my shoulder. “And that’s where we are now?”
I love her for including herself in my turmoil. It makes it seem like I’m less alone in my madness. “Yes. When Nathan explained what happened, and it all added up, it all made sense, I should have felt relief. Like my fears were unfounded. He wasn’t still in love with her.”
“But you didn’t? Feel relief?”
I shake my head, my eyes throbbing from crying so much. “No. I panicked instead.”
She pours me another cup of tea while I stand to pace, needing to move my body. It’s like my insides are itching to get on the outside.
