Final Offer (Dreamland Billionaires, #3)(125)

Questions run through my head, making it impossible to concentrate on anything happening on the screen in front of me.

With a groan, I shut the TV off and abandon my spot on the couch. Walking toward my room, I pause outside the door and turn toward the closed one across the hall.

Don’t even think about it.

Except I’m not thinking as I enter the empty room Cal once occupied. He went out of his way to make the bed, which is something he never did unless I asked him.

I’m so quick to move on from the bed, I nearly miss the white rectangle that doesn’t quite match the eggshell-colored comforter. The dull discomfort in my chest morphs into a sharp ache as I pick it up and read the message written across the back in Cal’s messy handwriting.

I dare you to wait for me.

The real me.

The sober me.

The best me who wants to spend the rest of his days getting drunk on life with you.





He draws out a scoreboard that matches the plank we had, except there is an added tally to my side that wasn’t there before.

I flip the photo. My vision blurs as I take in the three of us at Dreamland. Cami and I face the camera with beaming smiles, but it’s Cal who steals the show with his smile. He looks sober. Alive. Happy.

I lose the battle with gravity and fall against the mattress, holding the photo to my chest like a life raft in the middle of an ocean. One edge creases from my carelessness, so I’m quick to place it on the nightstand.

Everything smells like him. The bed. The sheets. The pillow I end up cradling against my chest as I curl into a ball.

I dare you to wait for me.

Seven words steal my breath and fuel my tears. They fall down my cheeks before soaking the pillow beneath me. I’m not sure why I’m crying. Is it out of sadness? Hope? Fear that what he says might not be true?

Maybe a mix of all three if I’m being honest.

I make a promise to myself to leave in a minute. Except a minute comes and goes, and I still find myself unable to move from his bed.

At some point, Merlin curls up against me. The fact that Cal left him here tells me one thing.

He really does plan on coming back whether I want him to or not.

And a part of me wants him to do just that.





50





CAL





The trip from Lake Wisteria was a blur. I don’t stop driving until I park outside Iris and Declan’s house on the edge of the suburbs.

“Cal?” Iris blinks up at me. “What are you doing here?”

“I fly out tomorrow,” I blurt out.

“I thought you were leaving Friday?” Her brows furrow.

I shake my head. “I moved up my flight.”

“Why?”

“Because Lana kicked me out of the guesthouse.”

“Oh, shit. Come inside.” Iris shuffles me into the house before shutting the door behind me. I follow her into the barren living room.

I look around. “Where is everything?”

“We’re moving into the new house next week.”

“Already?”

She laughs. “It’s been months already.”

“Wow.” A sigh slips out of me as I settle on to the airbed Iris has set up in front of the TV as a makeshift couch.

“What happened?” She sits on the other side of the air mattress.

“Lana knows about the will.”

Iris’s brows rise. “How?”

“She overheard Rowan, Declan, and me talking about it.”

Her wide eyes only add to the growing anxiety building inside of me. “Shit. That’s explains why she looked like a deer caught in headlights.”

“I fucked up.”

“What did you say exactly?”

I explain what Lana overheard.

Iris frowns. “Did she at least hear you out?”

“For the most part, but that doesn’t change anything. She was already on thin ice with trusting me, and now…”

“She has no reason to trust you at all,” Iris finishes for me.

My eyes drop. “No.” She might not trust me, but I’ll find a way to earn it back and not risk my inheritance.

Iris asks me for more information, so I share everything that happened over the last few days ever since the dinner.

“I could talk to her,” Iris offers after hearing me out.

I rear back. “How would that help?”

“I could help her understand why you would keep a secret like that in the first place?”

My head shakes. “As much as I love you for wanting to help, I don’t think Lana would go for it, so I’d rather you not unless she reaches out first.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ve done enough damage as it is. Sending you there…I’d rather not risk upsetting her.”

Iris lifts a shoulder. “You’re the one who knows her best.”

Which is exactly why I’m worried.

“What if she doesn’t forgive me?” I voice my fear aloud.

She throws her arms around me. “I doubt you’ll stop until she does.”

I return her hug with one of my own. Despite my life blowing up around me, I always know Iris will have my back.

“I just want you to know that I’m so proud of you for taking initiative and getting help yourself.”