Hux raced forward, and they were hugging and whispering to one another. I was happy for them. I wanted to be full of smiles and excitement like Cara was, but my heart was sitting heavy in my chest, weighed down by the uncertainty that had descended over us like a shroud. Travis and Rusty were walking on eggshells. None of us knew what to do. We all wanted to fix things with Carina. Watching Hux reunite with the loves of his life was a stark reminder of how our relationship with Carina suddenly seemed to be teetering on the edge, and none of us knew what to do to overcome it.
Carina should have been here with me, and I hated that she’d missed it, especially if it was because of something I’d done. I wished she could have witnessed the moment they saw each other. Any doubt about how much Hux loved her daughter would have fled. She would have loved it, and she would have been able to greet her daughter properly after a few months of being apart. I knew it was the longest they’d ever gone without seeing each other.
Damn it, she should have been here.
I led Hux and our new arrivals out to the SUV, and they piled into the back seat. I stared at the empty seat beside me, my heart aching at Carina’s absence. Sighing, I pulled out of the lot, Hux, Cara, and Monroe not even noticing that I was driving. They were wrapped up in each other, kissing as if it were the oxygen they needed to breathe.
I pulled up to the curb of Hux’s apartment building and joked, “Hux, take it inside, buddy, before you have to dry clean my leather seats.”
I loved seeing him happy. He deserved his joy. Given all he’d been through and everything he’d lost, I wanted Hux to be happy. But right now, I needed him out of the car.
“Let’s go,” Cara murmured, smiling widely. It showed just how wrapped up in Hux she was that she hadn’t asked why her mom wasn’t there.
“Come on upstairs,” Hux said. He’d clearly been speaking to Cara and Roe, but I couldn’t resist the chance to return the teasing he’d been dishing out every time I saw him.
“Oh, no, maybe another time,” I joked. Then with a smirk I added, “I’d prefer not to see your lily-white ass any more than when I have to in a locker room.”
“Give us a week,” he shot back without missing a beat. Then he looked between Monroe and Cara and corrected, “Make that two.”
I grinned and waved them off as they went into the lobby. I was in a no parking zone, but I stayed there for a moment longer, dreading going home. Travis, Rusty, and I all wanted to be able to hug Carina and kiss her like Hux had kissed Cara. But she’d been pulling away from us, and we were scared. Terrified, actually.
The drive home dragged, every mile feeling like ten. But at the same time, it went too quickly. I pulled in and parked near the front door before I dragged myself inside. Travis was at the counter, eating cereal, and the relief at the normalcy of it had my knees almost buckling. I strode across the room, and he put the bowl down just as I wrapped him in a hug. He held me tight, sheltering me against his big body. His arms around me were a tight band, comforting and warm. I exhaled and relaxed into his embrace.
Two paws hit my side, and I reached down to scratch Zeus’s ear. He pushed his face between us, joining in on the hug. If we’d let him, he’d use us as a tree and climb into our arms. I hugged him tighter to us.
“Did Cara and Monroe get in okay?” Travis asked. I nodded, and he added, “Where’s Carina?”
I snapped my head up, searching his gaze. My voice held a note of panic when I asked, “What do you mean ‘Where’s Carina?’ She was here when I left a couple of hours ago.”
He blinked, and his grip around my shoulders went lax. “I assumed she went with you. I haven’t seen her this morning, so I thought she was… with you.”
“She didn’t want to come.” I shook my head and dropped my gaze to Zeus, taking comfort in his guileless hazel eyes. I couldn’t look at Travis while I admitted that she’d sent me away. “She told me to leave.”
“She’s pulling away,” Travis murmured, his voice heavy. “She wants to leave.”
I looked back up at him and swallowed, not sure if I wanted to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. “Has she said anything to you about leaving?”
“No—”
“But I do,” she said from the doorway, and my heart cracked in two.
I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against Travis’s collarbone, desperate for his solid strength. Zeus jumped down and barked happily. I heard every one of his excited steps with the click of his claws on the timber floor.
Travis pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket, unlocked it, and tapped the screen a few times. I didn’t even care what he was doing.
“Why?” Travis asked, his voice quiet and sad.
“I want to go home,” Carina repeated, louder this time, but her voice held a wobble to it that had me turning to face her.
“Please tell us,” I begged. “How can we fix things?”
She shook her head. “You can’t. I just need to leave. I need to go home.”
“What? Why? What’s happened?” Rusty asked from behind her. Travis must have messaged him to come inside.
“I just need to go, okay? Stop pressuring me to tell you why.” Carina exploded, her voice rising to a shout.
Travis curled into himself, retreating until he was practically hiding behind me. I let go of him and spun to face Carina, tucking Travis into my back.
