I didn’t hesitate. I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. The moment I closed the door behind me, he was zooming forward once again.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pulling on my seatbelt as he sped down the street, moving in and out of traffic.
“I needed to talk to you.”
“And suddenly a text wasn’t good enough?” My right hand gripped the door as I attempted to keep from swaying left to right as he weaved in and out of the cars he was passing.
“No. Texts can be missed or ignored, and this can’t wait.” He kept his eyes on the road.
“OK, then what is this about?”
“I’m going out of town this weekend.”
“Oh?”
“I have a wedding to attend in the Bahamas.”
“Wow, lucky. With this weather, I’d give anything to spend the weekend on a sunny beach.” It was almost like the universe heard me because fat raindrops started falling from the sky.
“I’m happy to hear that, because I want you to come with me. You have a passport, don’t you?”
My mouth fell open as I looked over at him. Suddenly, I wasn’t worried about how fast he was driving or the heavy traffic he was speeding through. All I could think about was getting to spend a weekend away with him. “Yeah—Yes, I have a passport,” I managed to get out.
“Good. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, and we’ll be back Sunday. Pack enough clothes for the entire weekend, and get your excuses in place. If I were you, I’d reach out to professors for the classes you’ll be missing and get those assignments so you can work on them over the weekend. It’s just a reminder, but I can’t do shit about other classes if you happen to fail them. I can only help you out when it comes to my class.” He slowed the car abruptly, and then we came to a stop. When I looked around, I found him parked outside my apartment building. “Any questions?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He nodded and watched as I climbed out. He was pulling away from the curb the second I slammed the door.
The motor of his car roared as he pulled away, leaving me to head inside, full of excitement. I had no idea what to tell Madison. I couldn’t tell her that I was going home for the weekend because she knew where home was, and if she went looking and didn’t find me, I’d have even bigger problems. I wasn’t worried that Gabe would notice me missing. Since I wasn’t living with him, we rarely spoke or saw one another these days. Our schedules didn’t mesh well, and he had a whole life now, with a new family on the way. The most we ever did was send one another a check-in text, and I could do that from anywhere.
When I arrived at my apartment, I sprang into action, packing for the trip. I packed all my favorite bikinis, plus a couple of different options in dresses, shorts, and skirts. He said he was going to a wedding, but he didn’t tell me if I would be attending the event as well, so I made sure I had something nice to wear just in case. I spent the whole evening packing and getting things ready to go. I sent Madison a text, telling her that I was going to be driving to my grandparents’ place this weekend, and I promised her I’d be back by Sunday evening. I usually went to visit my grandparents once a year anyway. Even if she was surprised by the sudden trip, she wasn’t suspicious. She just told me to have fun and be safe. With a single text, I cleared my whole weekend. Before turning in for the night, I emailed my professors to let them know that I’d be missing class the following day, but I planned to take my laptop with me so I could submit any assignments on time. With everything out of the way, I lay down for the night.
I had a hard time falling asleep due to my excitement, but I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep anyway. I wasn’t ready to get up when my alarm went off, but the excitement pushed me to keep moving. I was dressed and ready to go by the time Elliot arrived to pick me up at eight A.M.
He texted me from the street, so I grabbed my things and headed down. I was a little surprised to see a cab parked against the curb, but the driver took my bag to pack it away in the trunk, leaving me to crawl into the backseat with Elliot.
“Good morning,” he said, not pulling his eyes away from the morning paper.
“Good morning. I wasn’t expecting to see you in a taxi.”
“I have no intention of leaving my car parked in the parking garage all weekend for someone to break into.”
I pursed my lips together and nodded in understanding. The driver took his place behind the wheel and, without a word, pulled out into traffic. Nobody talked as we made our way to the airport.
As Elliot and I made our way to our terminal, he spoke only when necessary. Things felt forced between us, and I wasn’t sure why. I thought he was happy with me. I’d been listening and following all of his rules, but the cold shoulder he was giving me was very off-putting. I wrote it off by telling myself it was just the stress of traveling. I even assumed that once we arrived at our destination, things would be easier.
I mostly slept on the flight. I was tired from not getting much sleep the night before, and with nobody to talk to and nothing to do to entertain myself, sleep found me easily. Within five hours of leaving my apartment, I was in a totally different country. The rain, cool weather, and crunchy leaves were gone. Blue skies and heat replaced it all, and I couldn’t wait to put on a bikini and hit the beach.
Elliott rented a car from the airport and drove us to the hotel. I was in the passenger seat, not caring that he was being so quiet because I was too occupied by taking it all in. I hadn’t ever been further than two hours outside of Chicago, so a place like the Bahamas was heaven. Of course, he picked the nicest hotel for us to stay in. The valet parked the car for us, and the bellhop tookour bags. We were shown to our room, which was spacious, airy, and bright, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows. The guy who was around my age left our bags on the floor, and Elliot slipped him a tip as he showed him the door. Once we were alone, I turned to him with a smile that immediately fell.
It was as if Professor West had returned. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes were cold when he looked at me.
“I’m taking the master suite. You can have the bedroom down the hall.” Without another word, he grabbed his bag and left me alone in the room.
ELLIOT
She was confused by my attitude, that much I knew. She didn’t mention it, though. Since I had picked her up that morning, she’d kept her mouth shut. She never questioned how rude I was being. She just took whatever I gave her. I wasn’t sure how to turn things around. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to turn things around. Deep down, I wanted to be warm and soft with her, but there was this knot in my chest that was always there, and it kept my plan at the forefront of my mind. Being unable to move past it only made me angrier. There were two sides of me, and I never knew which side would win. The asshole who only wanted to use her, hurt her, or the guy she knew growing up, who was soft and loving.
