I should've left the gym faster.
Maybe then he wouldn't have seen me.Maybe then my heart wouldn't be trying to claw its way out of my chest right now.
But I didn't.
And now he was standing there like he still had the right to exist in my world.
I was barely down the steps when my phone buzzed.
BROTHER.
Where are you?Keifer just called me.
My stomach dropped.
I looked up — and there he was. Leaning against his stupid black car like he hadn't once destroyed me.
"You called my brother?" I snapped.
"You wouldn't talk to me," Keifer said quietly.
My phone rang.
"Jay," my brother's voice was already angry. "Get in the car. Now."
"I don't want to—"
"I don't care. You're going with him. You two need to talk."
The line went dead.
So that was it.
No choice. Again.
I looked at Keifer. "Congratulations. You always get what you want, don't you?"
His jaw tightened. "That's not true."
But I got in the car anyway.
Because I always did what everyone else wanted.
The drive was torture.
I stared out the window so I wouldn't have to look at him.
"Stop looking at me," I muttered when I felt his eyes on me.
"I'm just—" He stopped himself. "Never mind."
We drove too far. Too long. The city disappeared. Water appeared.
My chest tightened.
"This isn't where I live."
"I know."
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere quiet."
I laughed. "You never were honest with me."
He didn't reply.
The rocking of the boat, the long day, the gym, the heartbreak — it all crashed over me at once. My eyelids felt heavy.
I told myself not to fall asleep.
I did anyway.
I woke up to wind.
And waves.
And fear.
I sat up so fast my head spun.
Sand. Water. Sky.
An island.
"You brought me here," I whispered.
Keifer was sitting a few feet away. "I brought you somewhere you'd finally listen."
I wrapped my arms around myself.
"You always trap me," I said. "First with your love. Now with this."
"I'm trying to free you."
I looked at him, my heart breaking all over again.
"You don't get to decide that."
The ocean roared behind us.
And for the first time since he shattered me…
I was finally going to hear the truth.