What the hell had he seen?
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I’d told him I wanted just him. That wasn’t the same as saying that I loved him.
I could feel the tears biting at my eyes as I threw my arms over my exposed breasts. He’d left me. Again. And I still wanted him. I let the tears fall down my cheeks. Why did I still want him so desperately when he kept leaving me?
This Is War - Chapter 32 - Open Me at Midnight
Saturday – September 23, 2023
Where the hell had Tanner gone? I didn’t even understand how he’d disappeared so quickly.
And then I realized what was happening.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Tanner was messing with me again. And I’d fallen for it. Just like I always did.Gah! I really need to stop being so gullible.
“Very funny,” I called into the dark forest. “You got me again.”
No reply.
“You can come back now.”
Still no reply.
“Tanner, come on. I know you’re messing with me.”
Crickets.
“Tanner?” I called a little louder. “Well, I guess I better put these things away…” I took my hands off my breasts and jiggled them a little. Boobs would surely bring him out from his hiding place, right?
Wrong. He was nowhere in sight.
Shit.Had he seriously run awayagain? I stared into the empty forest and my heart dropped.
Whelp…this was officially the worst weekend of my life. I’d come here to try to find Rosalie. But instead I’d gotten completely sidetracked by Tanner and Cole. And almost been spit roasted. And then to put a cherry on top, I’d gotten too lovey-dovey with Tanner and scared him off. Again. Big, fat tears rolled down my cheeks. I wanted them to be because of anger or embarrassment. But I was crying because I was hurt. Tanner kept freaking hurting me over and over again.
All I wanted to do was leave this stupid camp and go back to being lonely and single. Because being lonely sure as hell beat the feeling of constantly having my heart torn to shreds.
I considered driving back to the city, but there were two problems with that. First, I was freaking exhausted. I’d been running around in the hot sun all day. But my physical exhaustion paled in comparison to my emotional exhaustion. Second, and perhaps more importantly, Tanner had driven me here. Which meant I had no car. I was freaking stuck at this stupid freaking camp. I wanted to scream, but I was worried it would draw the attention of wolves. Or bears. That would be just my luck. I could already see the headline.Topless girl gets mauled by bear. But the coroner would probably declare my cause of death to be extreme horniness.
I put my arms across my breasts. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Would Tanner try to give me a ride back to the city tomorrow? The only way I would agree to that was if I was allowed to repeatedly kick him in the nuts throughout the entire drive. And I doubt he’d agree to that.
Maybe I could hitch a ride with Frankie. Or Isadora. Or literally anyone without a penis. Except Nigel. It would be the weirdest drive of my life, but at least the weirdness would distract me from the deep depression I was soon going to spiral into.
Wait, how had Chastity gotten here? She’d probably driven with someone with a penis.Gah. I could figure out the ride situation tomorrow.
The more pressing issue was my exhaustion. And that was easily solved by hijacking a nearby golf cart and hightailing it to my princess suite. Luckily everyone was busy at the spit roast, so no one saw me driving back to my suite half naked.
All I wanted to do was collapse onto the cushy bed the minute I got back to my suite, but I wasn’t a barbarian. My clothes were covered in mud and sweat and probably a bajillion bugs. Despite what Tanner said, I was pretty sure centipedes ran around in the forest, not just basements. A shiver went down my spine. Finding one of those devil bugs crawling up my leg would be a fitting end for the worst day ever.
I stripped off my dress, which didn’t take long thanks to the fact that Tanner had been about two buckles away from getting me naked when he’d decided to run away like a little bitch.
Screw him.
I took a quick shower and then hopped into bed. I expected sleep to come immediately. But the second I closed my eyes, a fierce growl burbled up from my empty stomach.
Nope.Nope, nope, nope.My hunger could wait until breakfast. This day was officially over.
I shut my eyes and demanded my body to fall asleep. It didn’t listen. All I could picture was that delicious spit roast. The pig. Not Chastity. Although what had happened to Chastity looked pretty delicious too.
