Page 45 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
“I better go,” she said.”
“Where to?”
“Just to clear my head, that’s all,” she said.
She walked back upstairs, and I rolled over in on the lumpy mattress of the pull out. My eyes were still heavy with sleep, but there was so much on my mind now, which was probably nothing compared to what was on hear mind and heart.
I could only imagine what Elise was dealing with. So many choices to make, and I’d managed to overcomplicate things by sleeping with her. Fuck me, Chase was right. I shouldn’t have done that.
“Morning,” Chase said.
I didn’t answer him. I stayed facing away from him, pretending to sleep. I wasn’t sure if he’d heard us on the porch or not. Not that it mattered. I knew what I’d done, I saw the effects it had on Elise, and I felt terrible.
I closed my eyes and eventually felt myself fall into a restless slumber.
9
Elise
I snuck out of the cabin quietly this time, not wanting to be disturbed. As much as I’d appreciated Nolan’s company the night before, this time, I really needed to be alone. I grabbed my coat this time, but even still, it was freezing. Nolan had a point. My big brother wanted me to be happy, he didn’t care about who I was involved with, as long as I was being treated right.
How did I not see it until now? How could I have not known that my own brother would have wanted me to put my happiness above all else?
I felt foolish. More than foolish. Most of all though, I felt regret. A deep, yearning, sense of regret. I’d wasted so much time – more specifically, Trevor and I had wasted so much time avoiding each other, when we could have been together, building something. Building our happiness together.
I replayed the conversation with Aaron in my head over and over, my heart lifting more with each recollection of the memory, and my clearer understanding of what Aaron wanted for me.
“How could I have been so stupid to not see it before?” I wondered aloud.
A gust of frigid wind sent a chill through me, making me hug myself even tighter. Standing out there in sub-zero weather was completely stupid. I was going to catch pneumonia or get frostbite or something. But, the cold air was helping to clear my head, and helping me to think a little more clearly. I knew I needed to talk to Trevor about it all. I was only just beginning to understand the hurt, and the burden he’d been carrying on his shoulders for so long now. I didn’t understand it before, but I got it. Finally, I got it, and I wanted to talk to him, to helpfully start helping him lay that burden down. It wasn’t his to carry to begin with.
“Elise.”
I turned, surprised to hear somebody else’s voice out in that miserable weather. My heart sank though, when I saw Brad emerging from the wall of snow like some evil, avenging spirit. Snowflakes clung to him, and his skin was bright red. He looked like he’d been out in the freezing cold for a long while already. His eyes were narrowed, and the expression on his face was dark. Grim. To be honest, it scared me a little bit. Half covered in snow like he was, he looked a little deranged, like a man coming completely undone.
“What do you want, Brad?”
“You,” he said. “We belong together.”
“We don’t,” I said. “And what we had is done. Over. You need to get that through your head and move on.”
“I can’t move on, Elise,” he said. “You’re mine and I’m yours. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
I turned to walk back into the cabin, when I felt his hand fall on my shoulder. He spun me around so that I was looking him square in the face, and gasped. My heart thundered in my chest so hard I was afraid it might explode.
“Brad let go of me,” I said.
“I can’t do that,” he replied. “I won’t do that.”
I opened my mouth to scream, but he clamped his hand down over it, silencing me. I screamed anyway, hoping that, at the very least, my somebody would hear my muffled cries. But, between his hand, the gusting wind, and the roar of the storm, I knew that nobody was going to be able to hear me. I struggled and fought, trying to get at him with my fists or my feet, hoping that if I was able to land a punch or a kick, I’d jar his hold on me loose.
But, he held me tight, and I could barely move. I was a tough girl, and I took no shit from anybody. I’d been in more fights than I should probably admit to. There was only so much I could do. He was a lot bigger, and a lot stronger than me physically. He dragged me backward, off the porch, and headed back down into the teeth of the storm. I fought him every step of the way, but it wasn’t enough. He dragged me back, and back, and back, until he had me at his car. Brad spun me around again, and pushed me against the car, holding me in place, as he opened up the door.
