Page 478 of Summer Heat
“If you bring her, tell me so I can tell the others.”
“Why tell them?” Although I don’t give a shit what they think, I know Addison will.
“She was like a sister to us, Daniel. She didn’t just leave Tyler, she left all of us.”
She didn’t just leave us once. She left us twice.
When I heard her break up with Tyler in the kitchen, I could hear every word. I stood by the window, watching her leave.
I can’t let her leave a third time. I can’t let her go.
Before I can stop myself, I speak into the phone, “I’ll let you know.”
Staring at the closed door to this rented house, I can see Addison so clearly all those years ago. Driving away and I never bothered to stop her or tell her how she wasn’t allowed to leave.
She could never leave.
She was meant to be there.
Not with Tyler, but with me.
Maybe if I had bothered to tell either of them that, Tyler would still be here and none of this would have happened.
Chapter 25
Addison
This coldness won’t go away.
It follows me everywhere. Even burying myself under the blankets doesn’t take the chill away.
I can’t sleep. I can on
ly wait for updates from Daniel. He texted me all night. He’s really leaving.
It all feels so final and I have no time to process anything. There’s a heaviness in my chest and a soreness in my lungs that I’m so painfully aware of. They won’t leave me alone.
Another message, another plea from him.
Please meet me, he begs. I can’t lose you again.
Looking at his message stirs up so much emotion. I don’t want to lose him. That’s the worst part of all of this. It’s the fact that I don’t want to be alone and without him again.
But how can you forgive someone for watching you suffer when they knew they could save you?
I’ll wait outside. I’m on my way and I’ll wait for you, but I can’t wait long. Please Addison.
The seconds tick by as I stare at his message.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
It’s early in the morning; the sun is still rising. A new day.
I can tell him goodbye. Just one last kiss. A kiss for the love we had. The love we shared for another too. A final goodbye that I should have had years ago.
I can pretend that’s what this will be, but I already feel myself clinging to him.
Some people you’re meant to say goodbye to, and others you aren’t.
