Page 33 of 4-Ever Theirs (4-Ever 1)

“Okay, fine.” She rubbed her temples then said the unimaginable. “I won’t take the job. I’ll stay. Here…with you.”

“No!” they shouted together.

As much as she wished they were wrong, they weren’t.

If she didn’t go, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Everything she’d worked for would be for nothing. Her heart broke into a million tiny pieces. Sacrificing one dream for another wasn’t easy. It gored her so damn bad that she reacted like any wounded animal would.

Andi didn’t waste any time after that. Staying longer would prolong the torture.

She ignored their protests—refusing their help—and immediately began hauling her stuff out of her room. One box at a time, she packed up every bit of her existence and erased it from their apartment. It didn’t take as long as she might have thought. With that finished, she went to the bathroom, blew her nose, then took one final look around the kitchen before enclosing the doorknob in her fingers, willing her wrist to turn.

“Andi, where are you going?” Reed tried to grab her, but she shrugged out of his hold. “It’ll be dark before you get to Cunningham. Late. You’ve got to be worn out after today. This week. Don’t do this. We’ll leave if you want. It’s not safe for you to drive so upset!”

“That’s not your concern,” she snapped.

“You’ll always be—”

“No, I won’t. As of right now, I’m not. Not anymore.” She barely choked back a sob. “Now move!”

It took Cooper and Simon tag teaming Reed to drag him back, giving her the chance to escape. “You’re going to miss graduation? Our celebration dinner?” He simmered down at that. “Not after how hard you’ve worked. Don’t go, Andi. Not yet.”

“It’s time.” She swallowed the knot in her throat as she tried to be strong enough for all of them.

Andi looked at each of the three special men who had made her college years full and rich. She’d never forget their time together or the spectacular way they’d ended it. “I love you. Goodbye.”

She wasn’t proud of it, but she turned and ran while she could.

The rush of blood through her system made it impossible to hear what they called after her. Tears poured down her cheeks as she drove away, refusing to so much as glance in the rearview mirror.

Forward.

She was moving ahead.

Getting on with the rest of her life, having far more experience than she’d bargained for.

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