Page 3 of When You Stayed
She seemed to soften with that, and with aheavy sigh she walked into my arms where I hugged her close. She smelled like roses and some kind of fruit—it was divine, and distinctly her. Always had been, but I was curious now if there was any other smell that I might enjoy more. Maybe someone else out there might fit me more perfectly. There was nothing wrong with Royce, but she had felt more like a friend than my girlfriend this past year.
“I love that you asked, it’s sweet of you. You’re so loyal and I’m going to miss that.” She sniffed, then pulled back. “I wish you all the best with college, and everything you’re looking for.” She finished by pressing a kiss to my cheek.
I wasn’t sure what to say, but her hand stroking the side of my face got my attention.
“You walked here, right?”
I nodded right as she got a familiar determined look on her face…it was the one that meant she was about to do something reckless.
“Don’t, Royce…You—” she ran past me and slipped outside.
I darted after her, but she was already inside of her Jeep, tearing away from the cabin and driving toward the clubhouse.
“Royce!”
She drove past me without so much as looking back. I was going to get my ass chewed for messing this up, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t force her.
As I was about to break into a run to chase her, I realized this wasn’t my problem anymore.
I had done what Killian asked of me, and it didn’t work. This was his burden now.
My best friend arrived at my door nearly an hour later.
I immediately asked, “How bad was it?”
Ford stepped inside my room and let out a sigh. He looked a lot like his dad, with the same chestnut-colored hair,similar hazel eyes, and fair skin that still looked red from our lake day. Poor fucker took way too long to tan.
“Killian was pissed. Royce threw a tantrum.”
I grabbed my duffel bag and plopped it on the edge of my bed, packing it. “I did my best.”
“Did you have to tell her it was her dad’s idea?”
I shrugged. “You know Royce. She knew me asking wasn’t normal.”
Ford’s brows caved as he picked up a framed picture out of the brown box on the desk. “How so? You two were going to get married at some point, why wouldn’t she think you’d ask before you headed off to college?”
Had he really not picked up on all our arguments, or how Royce hadn’t been around nearly as much this summer?
“We were likely going to break up right before I left. There hasn’t been much to talk about lately. We’re growing apart. She also hates that cabin and knew I’d never propose there.”
His gaze flicked over to me before settling on a different picture inside the box. “Why not tell Killian that?”
“I don’t know, I was already in shock that he demanded that I ask her to marry me to begin with.”
Ford let out a small laugh. “Still shocked you managed to keep it from your parents. I bet they would have gone toe-to-toe with him about it.”
“Dad falls in line pretty quick because of the club order.”
“Not your mom, though.” Ford laughed again while pulling out a pink sweater.
I gestured toward it. “Can you take that box back to Royce for me?”
His shocked expression dug a little too deep into my sternum. Royce and I were supposed to be end game material. We had talked about our future all four years of high school. For years we were inseparable, annoyingly so. We took each other’s firsts and always vowed to be together for all our lasts. I was madly in love with her, to the point that I nearly lost my friendship with Ford. He was sick of it at one point, got tired of me choosing her to hang out with over him…so yeah, this news was probably surprising to him.
“You’re serious, then. You two are finished?”
I turned away and continued pulling items out of my dresser. “What was the final decision Killian made regarding her choice to stay behind?”
