“What are you doing?” I grabbed the knob and attempted to reattach it to the door. “You’re such a jackass! Now we’re stuck in here!”
“I will talk to you.” He spoke through gritted teeth.
“Nothing to talk about. I want to forget it all.”
I continued to attempt to fix the door, realizing it wouldn’t happen unless I could become a magician in the next ten freaking seconds.
“Come on, Fern.”
“Shut up!” I shoved the knob into the hole, but it wouldn’t fit. How could it come out and not go back in?
I felt him standing behind me. “We need to clear the air. Do you hear me?”
My teeth were clenched. “I have selective hearing. And you are not selected.”
“You’re just scared.”
I stood up. “I’m scared of nothing!”
He whipped me around, pulled me close, and kissed me. And, oh my gosh, did he kiss me. After I regained my brain power, I pushed him away and wiped my lips with my forearm. Yes, over dramatic, but why not?
“You’re scared of that.”
I heard voices outside and didn’t know if I found that to be good or bad.
“Fern, are you in there?” It was Dan.
“Yes! Uh, Gabe was helping me find the gloves, and the door knob broke off.”
“Okay, we’ll get you out.”
I turned and whisper-yelled to the man who I was attempting to despise. “You think because you’re a good kisser there’s something more here? You’re delusional.”
He yanked me hard as my chest slammed into his. “If you think that’s all this is, you’re delusional.”
I quickly squirmed out of his grasp, channeled the scorned bitch that was me, and kicked the door so hard it flew open. Boom. Unfortunately, Pam was in its path and ended up on her ass.
Dan and I helped her up. “I’m so sorry, Pam. I just had to get the hell out of there.”
After awkward goodbyes back in the cabin, consisting of me staying as far from Gabe as possible, I ripped out the door to the safety of Katie’s backseat. As we pulled out of the driveway, I looked back to see everyone getting into cars except for Gabe.
He stood in front of the cabin with his hands in his pockets. A chill ran up my spine as our eyes locked, and my stomach muscles tightened. That was the moment I knew I’d fallen in love with a man who wasn’t available. It was time to check out and regroup.
I watched her drive away and couldn’t wrap my head around what the fuck had gone down. A conversation that made me sound like a lunatic or obsessive loser left her running for the hills with good reason.
Once everybody was gone, I went inside to the place I loved, but it was now a shell of what it was when she was there. There was an instant pull toward Jack Daniels.
Instead, I went to her room and stood in the corner, reliving every detail of her time there. It’d always been a guest room where friends would stay, but it was now Fern’s room. My eyes searched for signs of her.
The way the comforter was pulled up and the pillows placed leaning against one another in a decorative way. A little bottle of lotion left on the nightstand. When I opened it, my mind raced back to rolling around with her and the faint smell of flower blossoms on her neck.
Of course, I slathered it on my hands and then smelled them constantly like a complete freak. I pulled open the closet door, and the wind was knocked out of me. The empty closet was alive as the stunning burgundy dress looked back at me. She left the dress behind along with the promise.
Every bit of energy drained from me as I plopped on the bed and rested my head on her pillow. When I turned, there was the faint aroma of her coconut shampoo, bringing hot water to my eyes that I quickly wiped away.
I don’t do the liquid from my eye thing, but looking at the perfect dress that was worn by the perfect woman was killing me from the inside out.
The woman I’d scared away with my past. The freedom I finally felt had been yanked from me.
