Before she could see my tears, I quickly kissed her on the forehead then turned walking out of the bar leaving her standing crying in the middle of the dance floor. I knew one of my friends would take care of her, but I still felt like the biggest bastard going.
For once I was trying to do the right thing, without what I wanted getting in the way, but it felt like my heart was being ripped out. I needed to be alone, so I walked towards the forest and went in deeper than I usually did, in case one of the guys came after me. I was such a fucking mess I didn’t want any witnesses.
Finally coming to a stumbling halt against a huge fallen tree, I sat down and buried my face in my hands, crying like a fucking baby.
Eventually calming down, I came to the conclusion that I needed to talk to my dad. Really talk to him and hopefully come up with a solution because the wedding was only a week away and I knew there was no way I could go through with it anymore. I’d even thought of hiring an actor to marry us so that it would appear that we’d married, but in actual fact we wouldn’t be married. A stupid idea, but it might work and I was desperate.
Standing up to head back, I realized I’d been fucking stupid saying goodbye to Thalia, it had been an hour and I knew there was no way I would be able to stay away from her, who had I been kidding.
Chapter 44
Thalia
––––––––
My heart broke last night when he said goodbye to me, then left me on the dance floor without a backwards glance, but I was sick and tired of crying myself to sleep over him.
In truth he’d looked as sick as I’d felt, but it certainly didn’t help me any. As I’d stood watching him retreat, Donovan had walked up to me and pulled me into his arms, moving me around the dance floor, while I cried into his t-shirt, again. I wasn’t sure what I’d have done but for Donovan rescuing me. When I’d finally managed to get the tears under control, Liam had brought me back to the house where I’d spent most of yesterday locked up in my room.
Rolling over onto my stomach, I burrowed my head under the quilt. I could hear voices downstairs, which made me freeze. Was Phoenix down there? I could make out Liam’s voice and a woman’s. Mia maybe.
With a heavy sigh, I pushed the quilt over to the side and stepped out of bed walking to the bathroom.
After throwing my pajamas off, I stepped under the warm spray of the shower and let the water calm me. Ridiculous as it may sound considering I couldn’t swim and got nervous when near lots of water, it had a calming effect with me. I could sit on the bank of a river or on a beach and watch the water all day, until I stepped into it, then I would start to panic.
Finished with the shower, I wrapped a towel around me and went back into my room to root around for some clothes. I decided on my denim shorts, lavender lace tank top and my cowgirl boots.
My hair was damp after the shower. I didn’t have the time to blow dry it with it being so long, so I ran the towel over it and braided the still damp hair down my back. The closet door was open when I finished so I did something that I didn’t often do. I stood in front of it and took a good look at myself.
What I saw was me. I was slim built with legs that went on and on, or so I’d been told. My face had tanned since I’d been in Alabama; a sprinkling of freckles covered my nose and dusted each cheekbone; the bane of my existence, but I had to admit that they gave me a girl next-door appeal. My dark eyes and plump mouth added a sultry touch to my appearance.
Okay, I’d spent enough time in my room to try and avoid going downstairs and seeing Phoenix. He was down there; I just had the feeling in the pit of my stomach that he was there with Liam and...Mia. I needed to be composed before I saw them together, because every time I thought about them being together or saw them; my heart broke a little bit more.
Halfway to the kitchen it became clear he was in there...and he was laughing. How could he be laughing when I felt as though I never would again?
I pushed my way through the kitchen door and found them sitting around the kitchen table. Phoenix and Liam were shoveling pancakes into their mouths while Mia was perched next to Liam sipping her bottle of water.
“Thalia, Mom saved you some pancakes in the microwave,” Liam told me shoveling food into his mouth as though he’d never been fed.
“Thanks. Morning, Mia, Jack.” I chanced a glance at Phoenix who had my panties wet. I nearly stumbled, because after last night I sure as hell never expected him to look at me like that again.
His eyes lit with mischief, but I thought it best to ignore him, at least while I warmed my breakfast up.
With a coffee poured, I retrieved my pancakes from the microwave before I walked over and took the seat beside Jack.
Our thighs rubbed together under the table while I tried to get the chunks of food down my parched throat. Sitting so close and touching Phoenix wasn’t the wisest move I’d ever made, but my body and heart craved him.