Unveiled (Torn #6)(20)

He pressed his lips together, as though to refrain himself from responding to my little speech. Without letting go of my hand, he used his other one to tug me close, giving me a warm, comforting hug. Cheek to cheek, his lips grazed my ear.

“I will always love you, Pookie. But I will set you free because you asked me to. I love you enough to try to be brave, even if it breaks me. I want you to be happy.” He kissed my cheek before I felt a little moisture from his eyes. “I’ll see you in my dreams. At least there you’re always going to be mine.”

“Brody,” I choked out on a sob, feeling horrible for doing this to him.

“Shhh … Don’t cry. It tears me up inside if you keep doing that, and I might get tempted to kiss you just so you’d stop crying,” he murmured softly. “Let me just enjoy holding you for another minute because I might never get the chance to again.”

Holding my tears at bay, I merely nodded as I silently bid him farewell. During that one minute farewell of silence, he and I shut the door on the good times we had shared—from the great laughs that had tickled us until we were blue to the sweet moments shared that we cherished the most. It was sad saying goodbye to a past lover with whom I had shared so many amazing memories. It was as if I was placing him and the rest of what reminded me of him in a section in the back of my brain, securely locking it without wanting to look back. While Brody represented my past, it was Dimitris who represented my future.

Slowly disentangling him from me, I held his face with both of my hands before giving him a tiny kiss. “Goodbye,” I whispered without looking him in the eyes before pushing myself to move and get out of his car. Once I did, I stood behind it, waiting for him to leave. He merely gave me a sad look then drove off slowly, watching me from his rearview mirror until he no longer could.

I stood there, paralyzed as I memorized the back of his car as he drove away. I wasn’t one that liked saying goodbyes to the people I cared about, but I felt that Brody had to hear it from me—that I had no intentions of ever going back to him. Maybe he had based his hopes on my past actions, because I did come back to him even after I married Dimitris as well as after I divorced him. However, things were truly different this time. This time, I had no barriers to keep my feelings at bay. This time, I was ready to be with a man as intense as Dimitris. This time, I was ready to face all of my doubts and fears, never wanting to hold back from the profound love I felt for this one man. I would endure all of it, as long as he and I were together.

He was my future. That was all that counted.

“That was rather touching,” a deep, familiar voice boomed from behind me, making me instantly tense.

f*uk. f*uk. Triple f*ukity f*uk! Just my luck.

Rooted to the spot, I didn’t bother turning around. I was too much of a coward to look into those bright blue eyes. I knew without having to look into them that they would bear great hurt and maybe also a little accusation. I’d rather stay this way, gazing into the fallen darkness of the night, playing oblivious to what he had just witnessed.

“I didn’t know you were coming. You should’ve text or called me.”

“So that I’d miss out on the nice display of you getting cozy with your lover? I think not.” He made a dry laugh, not bothering to hide his obvious sarcasm. “I went to see your brother, and he told me you left to go home, but when I got to your house, Trista and Amber said you all left together with Brody. When your pretty little self couldn’t be found, I had to retrace my steps, wondering where you’ve been. When I drove back here and spotted your parked car, yet you were nowhere to be found … Well, you can guess that I didn’t have to wait long until you two showed up, appearing as if you were being torn apart. Should I even bother to ask where you’ve been, Lindsey?”

I knew what he was getting at, but he was so wrong.

“I know it appears as though something’s going on, but it’s not like that at all. We had a talk, and I was trying to convince him to move on,” I shakily said, hoping he’d believe me.

“All right, if you say so, then it is so,” he murmured noncommittally. “Well, this trip was rather a waste of time and purely unproductive. I’m here to bid you farewell so I can be with the people that love and care for me during this splendid holiday celebration.”

Wait…

“You’re leaving?” I spun around to face him, alarmed that he was leaving without even trying to convince me to go with him to Athens anymore. “Did you just decide that after you saw me with Brody, or had you made this decision prior to even coming here to see me?” You can’t just leave me. Not like this, not after last night. We still have a lot to talk about.” Shaking my head, I pleaded with him, feeling at a loss when I saw how distant he was.

He looked indifferent, his eyes as cold as the Arctic. “What is there to discuss? You don’t want to move to Athens, and I can’t move here, because my business is in Greece. So, I guess we’ll continue on … with this.”

No …

“Can’t you stay for a little while longer? Even just for tonight?” Slowly walking up to him, my shaky hand tried to reach for his chest, but it fell away in my fear to even touch him. “I’m sorry that you had to see that, and I’m sorry I can’t be with you in Athens, but please, don’t leave like this. If you do, we might end up fighting more, and then this rift—this massive black hole of a space that’s sitting between us—will get worse. And I don’t want to lose you. We’ve fought so hard to get here, so please, give me tonight; then you can leave first thing in the morning.”