28. Trent
Trent
We’re at the airport check-in as Saylor keeps glancing behind her shoulder, hoping to spot the familiar blond head of my brother.
River turned out to be a no-show in the end.
Well, he is a total idiot, and I can’t wait until I get my hands on him when we get back. I will wring his neck for being such a dirtbag. Mark my words.
He only went and let her down in the end.
He only went and let us all down.
“So,” she whispers, trying not to look too crestfallen. “I take it he isn’t coming.”
None of us know what to say. In the end, Saylor can’t afford to stall any longer. She will miss her flight.
Her flight number gets called out over the speaker, and this is it. The moment we have to say goodbye.
She will definitely be seeing Zale and me again. That’s for certain.
We hug her now. Zale lifts her off the ground, spinning her around. “So long, S.”
“Have a safe return back to England, England,” I chuckle, trying to hide the pain.
She smiles sadly. “I will.”
Silence drifts between us. She doesn’t have to say anything. If River doesn’t come around, then this truly is the end for all of us.
We could never make it work if it was just the three of us.
People hurry around us with rolling suitcases. Children laugh as their parents drag them along. People spill coffee onto the floor, and announcements are echoed on the speakers overhead.
The whole airport just keeps on moving.
Yet our little corner of reality is just completely frozen in time.
Finally, Saylor moves toward the security line. Only the rope barriers separate us now.
I give her a salute.
Zale smiles softly, lifting his hand with a wave. "Go," he says. "Before you miss your flight."
She nods, then hands her passport to the TSA officer.
And then she disappears through the scanners.
She’s gone. And it most likely will be the last time we ever see her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted nothing to do with us again after this.
All just because River chickened out in the end. Not even a text goodbye.
Fuck him.
With heavy hearts, Zale and I make our way back through the airport terminal. It’s only when we reach the exit that we find him there, panting and sweating.
His green eyes are wild with desperation, and there’s no missing the realization as it dawns on him at last.
He was too late.
He missed his chance.
And he really screwed things up. For all of us.
“Has… has she…?” he gasps, grabbing a stitch in his side.
Zale and I growl at him now, and River stares at us in surprise. Zale even balls his fists.
“You have a nerve showing your face,” I say. “You should have seen her, R… I’d never seen a more heartbroken expression.”
“You’re a bastard,” Zale whispers. “What the fuck happened? Where were you? You knew what time she was leaving.”
River runs his hand through his hair. Then he leans back against the wall, sinking to the floor. For a moment he doesn’t look like my brother.
No, he looks just like a scared kid standing in the corridor at Silver Grove High all over again.
Still terrified of choosing happiness.
“I… I don’t know,” he whispers. “When I woke this morning, I just couldn’t… Look, it was just supposed to be sex, all right… It wasn’t meant to mean anything. She needed a third knot. But I never… I never… Ugh, I don’t know…”
Zale and I aren’t so convinced as we still glower at him.
I speak again. “Well, you messed everything up. She won’t want anything to do with any of us after this. We’re a package deal, after all. You don’t just get one of us. You get all three.”
River bows his head. “Did… did she say that?”
I sigh. “No. She didn’t have to. It was written all over her eyes.”
River sighs. “So then… we all still have a chance…”
Zale and I fall silent. My brother speaks now. “What are you implying...”
“That we go after her,” River replies. “Grand gestures and all.”
I roll my eyes. “How, genius? She’s most likely already boarded her plane.”
Unless he plans to barge his way through security and run straight out onto the tarmac, he’s lost his chance. His green eyes find mine. “When does the next plane fly out to Manchester?”
Now he has our attention.
Zale raises a brow. “Why?”
River gets to his feet. “Because it’s time to win her back.”