Stepbrother Dearest(70)

***



Greta wouldn’t make eye contact on the ride to the airport. All of the special moments we’d shared, and she couldn’t even stand to look at my face now. That was what it all came down to, and I couldn’t say I blamed her.

I was breaking apart at the seams and didn’t know what to say to her. We’d practically been to Heaven and Hell and back together over the past twenty-four hours and now, I was simply leaving her…again.

When we exited the car at the curb, the wind was wild. It was almost like a scene out of a movie. This would have been the sad part where you’d cue the dramatic music.

The thunderous sound of the planes taking off made it even more difficult to articulate what I wanted to say. What do you say to someone you’re abandoning for the second time?

She held onto herself and was looking everywhere but at my face.

Finally, I said, “Look at me.”

Greta shook her head repeatedly, and a tear fell down her cheek.

It was official now. I was the scum of the Earth.

My own eyes started watering because I couldn’t take away the pain she was feeling, because I couldn’t do the one thing that would have achieved that: staying.

She was waving me off. “It’s okay. Go. Please. Text me if you want. It’s just…I can’t do a long goodbye…not with you.”

She was right. This wasn’t going to end well, so why prolong it?

“Okay.”

She startled me when she leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. She rushed back to the car and slammed the door before I could even process it.

The remnants of her saliva were stinging my cheek as I walked into the airport in a daze.

I wanted to look at her one last time, so I turned around. Big mistake. Through the glass, I saw that her head was on the steering wheel. I immediately ran back outside to the car and knocked on the window. She refused to look up and started the engine, so I knocked harder. She finally turned to me and got out, wiping her tears. “Did you forget something?”

Before I knew it, my mouth was on hers. My heart was doing the thinking at this point. I wouldn’t open my lips because I’d convinced myself that this was innocent so long as I couldn’t taste her. It was a firm, desperate kiss, and I didn’t even know what it meant.

I felt empty and confused.

She ended it. “Get out of here. You’re gonna miss your flight.”

My hands were still on her cheeks. “I never got over hurting you the first time, but hurting you twice…believe me when I say this was the last thing I ever wanted to see happen in my lifetime.”

“Why did you come back just now?”

“I turned around and saw you crying. What kind of a heartless * would leave you like that?”

“Well, you weren’t supposed to see that. You really should have kept walking because now you’re making it worse.”

“I didn’t want that to be my last visual.”

“If you really love her, you shouldn’t have kissed me,” she yelled.

“I do love her.” It came out really defensively. I looked up at the sky because I needed to think for a second.

How would I explain the realization I had on the dance floor last night?

“You want to know the truth? I f*cking love you, too. I don’t think I realized how much until I saw you again.”

“You love us both? That’s messed up, Elec.”

“You’ve always told me you wanted honesty. I just gave it to you. I’m sorry if the truth is a f*cked up mess.”

“Well, she has the home court advantage. You’ll forget about me again soon enough. That will simplify things.”

She was getting back in the car.

“Greta…don’t leave like this.”

“I’m not the one leaving.”

Ouch.

She drove off and left me at the curb, which was fitting because I’d unintentionally kicked her to the same place…twice, actually.

I was really tempted to jump in a cab and follow her. But I got on that plane back to California because for once in my life, I needed to do the right thing.



***



My finger kept pressing the next page button hoping there was more to the story. He couldn’t have possibly put me through all of that just to end it right where we left things.

When he sent me the manuscript, he said it wasn’t finished. It was probable that he didn’t feel I needed to know anything more than what involved me. Since the rest of his life would involve her, there was no need to torture me with more. I got it now, and I appreciated that. He wanted me to understand what he was feeling all of that time so he could have some closure and move on.

Well, good for him.

I took out my phone and sent him a text that sounded cordial despite my anger.



I finished. Thank you. That was an amazing ride. I’m honored you asked me to read it. The history of your family blew me away and explained so much. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I understand so much more now and also why you ended it where you did.



Fuck.

I was crying and had to go back out to my friends.

Devastated, I was determined that the rest of the night would be about forgetting him once and for all.

“Help me drown my sorrows,” I remember him saying to me at the casino. Well, that was what I needed right now.