Page 21 of Wanting You
“You’re objectively right. I should probably tell River.After all, I confessed my love and then jumped on someone else.”
She sighs. “You’re probably right. He should hear it from you before he hears it from Sebastian.”
She’s right. Secrets don’t stay buried here—not on this island, not with the way everyone watches, listens, waits for the next piece of drama to unfold. And this? This is more than drama. This is a mistake with consequences.
I press my palms against my eyes, willing away the burn of tears. “What if he doesn’t forgive me?”
Sienna sighs. “Then at least you’ll know where you stand. But if you don’t tell him and he finds out some other way?” She lets that thought hang between us, the weight of it suffocating.
I take a steadying breath. “I’ll tell him. Right away.”
The wind shifts through the palm trees. The island has always had a hum to it, the rustling of leaves, the rhythmic pull of the tide, the distant murmur of voices from the mansion or the beach.
But now, it feels…empty.
Too empty.
Sienna glances toward the beach.
The sun glares off the water, turning it into a blinding sheet of gold. Nothing. No sign of River, Brett, or Jake. No distant figures walking the beach. No low voices carrying on the breeze.
Something isn’t right.
“Where are they?” I ask.
Sienna shrugs. “Maybe they just went somewhere private to talk.”
I nod, but unease coils in my stomach. The last time River disappeared, it was after I told him how I felt. And now, afterJake’s sudden return, after the upheaval of everything they thought they knew—he’s gone again.
I walk toward the ocean. “I need to find him.”
Sienna hesitates. “Emily?—”
“I need to.”
She doesn’t argue. “I want to find Brett, too. Something about this whole thing just feels off.”
A cold chill slides down my spine despite the heat of the noonday sun.
Somewhere on this island, beneath the relentless sun and the endless stretch of empty beach, something is already breaking…and I’m terrified it’s my heart.
EPISODE 199
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
River
We walk along the beach, none of us speaking, until we’re far enough from the mansion that no one will hear us.
After Seb found Alex and brought him to us, Alex and Jake embraced like Seb and he had.
Until Brett broke them up and gritted out, “River, your time’s up.”
“Not here,” I said. “Somewhere private.”
“Fine.” Brett started walking. “We walk.”
Now we’re standing, barefoot, the water lapping at our feet.
