Chapter 44Olivia
Olivia
The hissing of the streaming water filters through the ceiling of Cade’s powder room. I unclasp the claw clip in my hair, letting my damp tendrils fall over the section that’s already blow dried.
I comb my curling brush through a wet layer, sliding the hair dryer vent over it with my free hand. The heat coats my fist, only to hit the neckline of my lilac crop top.
As I observe my reflection, my heart dashes with the hurdles Cade and I have cleared. I smile as I briefly peer down, shifting my left ankle until I feel the bobble chain jangle under my baggy jeans.
I’d say there are at least thousands of people who deserve a granted wish before me. But maybe that’s the unique thing about fate. It’s arranged when we least expect it, and tethered to someone or something we couldn’t have dreamed ourselves.
I click the blow dryer off before unplugging it and exiting the bathroom. As I journey up the wood stairs, the running water of the shower has been replaced with the faucet of the ensuite bathroom.
When I enter Cade’s bedroom, I plop the hair dryer in my duffle sitting in the corner.
Assuming Cade’s brushing his teeth, I pluck my face lotion from the side pocket of my bag and squirt some in my palm.
I smush the creamy substance between my hands, standing up to lather my cheeks and neck as I wander aimlessly around the bed.
The coconut scent provides a split second of peace until a dull buzz vibrates from Cade’s nightstand. My chin whips down, eyes connecting with the lit home screen of his iPhone, only for a wrecking ball to swing directly into my chest.
Jenna: You still wear the ring I gave you. That’s been in my head ever since I saw you, and I can’t stop thinking about the other night.
My heart ceases to sprint with delight, smashing into a million tiny fragments in the pit of my stomach. I’m arrested in place, my gaze lolling to the navy duvet of Cade’s bed as the creak of the bathroom door echoes behind me.
Agony invades my body like a parasite, eating away at every notch of progress Cade and I have made. Revulsion bubbles under my skin as I consider turning around and looking him in the eyes. Those gorgeous blues no longer familiar, but alien.
You still wear the ring I gave you.
The very object that brought Cade and I together, the symbol of our foundation, the token of our love—it was all a fallacy.
Make believe.
A mere fairytale.
“Hey.”
I release a weak breath, my fingers finally dropping from my moisturized cheeks. When I rotate, Cade’s swiping a towel over his head as he stands inked and shirtless in black joggers.
His brows dip as soon as he catches sight of me, tossing his towel over the counter behind him. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Do you have something to tell me?” I challenge.
He shakes his head through his confusion. “What are you talking about?”
My jaw fastens as I jerk my chin toward his mahogany nightstand. “Maybe you should take a look at the message your ex left for you. Or should I even call her that?”
I return my eyes to him, my stare boring into his taut expression as his Adam’s apple cocks. “Obviously you read the message, so tell me what it said, and I’ll explain,” Cade says.
“It said she can’t stop thinking about the other night,” I answer quickly. “So, if you didn’t fuck her brains out, what the hell is she talking about?” Flames ignite in my lungs, my mouth breathing fire on every word.
He tilts his head gently, shaking his head as he walks the couple steps toward me. “I didn’t have sex with her, Olivia.”
“Shut the fuck up and start explaining,” I grind out as my chin tilts up to him.
His nostrils slightly flare, but his eyes remain soft. “Jenna texted me saying she wanted to talk. I ignored her until a few nights ago and invited her to my brewery to have a conversation. I needed closure for us. You and me.”
I peer at him through slitted eyes, the shattered pieces of my heart crashing to the floor under my sneakers. “Really? You must be one hell of a talker since she can’t seem to stop thinking about that conversation, so tell me exactly what happened.”
Cade matches my heated stare as he leans into my space. “You do realize I was cheated on, right?” he counters. “Why the fuck would I inflict that pain on you ? You of all people? Huh?”
I pop a shoulder. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just a rebound. For all I know, you could be using me to get back at Jenna.”
His chest rises as he straightens, his body pivoting to scrub two hands through his hair. “You can’t be serious,” he exhales.
“Answer the question.”
He faces me again, wailing one arm in the air. “After everything that’s happened, you’re going to focus on some goddamn text that means absolutely fucking shit to me?” His brows crinkle in horror. “After I just told you the truth? I have no reason to lie to you, goddammit!”
His anger fails to thwart my inquiry. “Did you kiss her, Cade?”
“Hey,” he whispers, his rough palms cradling the sides of my face.
I turn my cheek from him, battling his grip that somehow lights me up the same way it always does. Even when we’re in a crisis.
“Olivia, look at me. Because when I’m telling you something important, I’m going to look you in the eye and say what I need to say.”
Tears shade my vision, knowing that what he’s about to tell me could potentially rip me to shreds. His fresh scent threatens to pull me under his spell, those icy-blue eyes poking at my periphery until I submit.
“Jenna held my hand, and when I felt her touch in that moment, it was familiar . It drowned my judgment for a split second. She moved to kiss me, but I stopped it from going any further and officially closed the door on us. I swear on my life , Olivia, it’s over.
” His head wags with intention. “I’m blocking her number.
I’m never going to speak to or see her again.
Fuck, I’ll uproot my entire life and move ten thousand miles away from here with you if that’s what it takes. ”
I shake my head against his hands, a few tears wringing from my eyes. “She gave you that ring,” I breathe out. “That ring was hers.”
He nods through a tight swallow. “Yes.”
I try to rip myself out of his grasp, but he locks me in a rigid hold.
“ Listen to me ,” he demands. “Jenna gave it to me when I decided to leave the bike shop and open my own business. There’s no romantic meaning behind it. There never has been.”
Adrenaline spikes through my veins, wrenching me from his palms before I’m walking toward my duffle bag. “You son of a bitch,” I grit out.
Cade’s hot on my tail. “Oh, I get it. That’s the real reason you’re so damn upset, isn’t it?” His snarky tone kicks my body around, and his arm flies in the air. “Not because of my poor judgement, but because some fucking piece of metal means more to you than I do.”
My lips purse as I slam two fists into his bare chest, but the force flops to budge him a centimeter. “Did you even think of me?!” I yell. I shake my head, skating my throbbing hands through my hair as I whisper, “This is all a lie. Everything I thought I knew is a lie .”
“What’s a lie?!” His posture dominates mine, his chest exhausting frustration through every word. “I’m not the perfect man you dreamed up in your mind, Olivia? Huh?”
My chin angles up on a narrowed gaze. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He yanks his ring off his middle finger, my body jolting when he ricochets it against the bedroom wall.
The tenderness in his eyes has filtered, substituted with harbored irritation before he punches a fist down between us.
“I’m not some fucking white knight! I am not perfect!
You wear that anklet like it’s a trophy, and as much as you cherish it, it makes me feel like who I am isn’t good enough. ”
My adrenaline shrivels as he shouts. “I told you why I wore it,” I argue.
“Yes, wore ,” he says, gently bending at his knees to bring both hands to his chest. “But I’m here now . Why is that not enough for you?”
More tears loom to spill across my cheeks, our stars straying farther away. “It’s brought me comfort. Why is there something wrong with that?”
He offers a mild shake of his head, his wounded gaze wandering over my face. “Because I need you to need me , Olivia. Not just my protection.”
“No, it doesn’t mean that’s all I need from you,” I assert.
“It does when it’s the reason you fell in love with me,” he retorts.
“I missed the part where you fell in love with me, Olivia.” His forefinger points to my foot as he holds my glossy eyes.
“That part was left behind on those wings. And every time I look at your anklet, I see the part of your love I’m absent of. ”
No.
It’s innocent.
He’s wrong.
I wiggle my head, spinning to yank my duffle bag off the floor. “You’re just deflecting the core issue here. I’m not listening to this.”
“I could say the same about you,” he tosses, retreating backward as I pummel forward.
As soon as I sling the bag strap over my shoulder, his arm barricades the width of the door frame.
“No, come on, baby.” His free palm greets my waist, the burn of the contact just as delectable as it is agonizing.
“Don’t leave like this. Please , baby, come on.
Let’s just talk about this. I want to talk to you about this.
” His fingers reach for my face, his voice a smothered whisper.
“Just look at me, please. This is me . I haven’t changed. ”
I avert my eyes from his, whisking my fingers through my bangs as I say, “I want to go.”
“You’re really going to do this?” he asks, his tone frayed. “After everything we’ve been through, after everything we’ve overcome, this is how you’re going to leave?”
My stomach crunches in anguish, famished from the abrupt feud that launches us on two different planets. We stand an inch away from each other, but the line sketched between us thickens with every tortured breath.
And it occurs to me that the distance between us is longer than it ever was. A distance I created with all the winding roads I paved along the journey.
Me and me alone.
Maybe this is the very thing about fate. You don’t fuck around with it. And my oh my, have I fiddled with all the bolts and screws fastened into this machine.
This whole time, I was fighting any outside force that threatened to demolish our fate, when in the end, I was the greatest hazard.
I struggle to swallow past a thick lump, my throat clogging as I choke out my next words. “I really need you to move.”
Don’t move.
Out of the corner of my eye, Cade’s body remains idled at the door. Every beat of my heart pounds over the next passing second, my belly curdling tighter and tighter.
Until he drops his palm off the wood frame.
And our souls sever.