Without a Hitch(90)

Monty! Monty,” she yells again before her voice fades off, no doubt giving Monty a piece of her mind.

“Are you okay?” Hadley asks, curling up next to me on the sofa.

“I—I’m fine,” I whine, but my head shakes no. A sure sign my head and my heart are at odds.

“What did he do?” Eli snarls.

“Nothing he didn’t warn me would happen. He—we just want different things.” I’m not sure if they can understand me through my broken sobs, but they all surround me. I feel them even if I can’t bear to meet their worried gazes.

“You’re home early,” Delaney points out gently. “Is he not going to follow through with your deal?”

Now my heart bleeds openly. “No, he is. He already has. He must have started the second I walked out the door.”

“Started what?”

“Work. He didn’t come after me. He didn’t even give me a second thought. He couldn’t have.” I choke on the painful words. “While I was crying across the country, he was—working. I… As soon as I landed, I got an email from someone named Nate that I needed to prepare for an onslaught of unhappy brides starting in August because their weddings would be turned over to me in a new venue they hadn’t chosen. Lochlan’s opened not just the hotels we agreed on, but all of them.”

“It’s the least the asshole can do.” Eli harrumphs.

“Please, Eli. That doesn’t help. He isn’t a bad guy. He’s…” I can’t finish the sentence. Everything hurts.

“You’re still defending him?” Hadley asks patiently.

“He didn’t do anything wrong, Hades. He told me from the very beginning what he was capable of. I told him what would happen if I spent time with him, and it did. He never changed our rules. I did.”

“You fell in love with him in two weeks?” Eli asks skeptically.

I cast a solemn expression her way. “E, if I’m honest, I think I caught feelings the second time I met him. If I’m truly being honest with myself, I knew he was dangerous after our first encounter because I already felt something I shouldn’t. He knows what he can and can’t give. I fell for him anyway,” I cry. “And…it hurts. It hurts so bad because when his sun shines on me, I feel like I can conquer the world. Then he reiterated his truth, and it was like a dark cloud had drowned out the sun.

I feel like I’ll never be warm again. He made me feel like I mattered. Like he saw me in a room full of sparkling diamonds. He made me feel special.”

“Oh, honey. You are special,” Mable rasps behind us, causing us to jump at the sound.

“Jesus, Mable. You scared the shit out of us.” Eli scolds, but is already moving to assist Mable with whatever she has in her hands. “What did you bring?”

“Breakup food. Isn’t that what you girls do? Y’all were so busy cursing out that boy I didn’t hear anyone place an order. So I did it. Ice cream too.” She leans down and wraps a bony arm around my shoulders. “You’re gonna be just fine, Titty. Just fine.”

Meow.

“What was that?” Hadley asks, jumping off the couch.

“Oh, Pussy just followed me up. Nothing to get yourself all riled up over.”

“Who?” Eli asks.

Mable points to a feral-looking feline prancing into our living room with its tail raised like royalty. “She just kept following me home from Fiddle the Bean, so I decided to keep her.”

“And you named her…Pussy?” Delaney asks hesitantly.

“Yup.”

Eli pinches the bridge of her nose, and I know this is my chance to sneak out. They’ll be caught up with Mable for at least an hour. With all eyes on Eli, I slip off the sofa and scoot down the hall to my room.

Overwhelming sadness threatens to drag me under as I flop facedown onto my bed. With my head buried in a pillow, grief like I’ve only read about seeps from my soul and soaks the soft cotton.

Why does it hurt so much to love someone who can never love you back? After a while, I roll onto my back and pull out my phone. I know it won’t be long before the girls come find me, but I can’t seem to let Lochlan go completely. Not yet.

Scrolling until his name appears on my screen, I don’t give myself a chance to back out. I press send and wait with my heart in my throat as it connects. It doesn’t cycle through one full ring before he answers.

“Tilly? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

A tearful smile forms on my face. “I’m okay.” My voice wobbles, and I curse myself for having no self-control.

“Till. Darling.” His heavy breathing has me imagining him pacing the beach house. “I miss you.”

“Why did you send a messenger to check on me? You have my number.”

“Christ, Tilly.” I pull the phone away at his harsh tone.

“This was a mistake. I—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“Do not hang up this phone,” he bellows. “Let me finish.” He’s silent for a beat, and I swear all the blood in my body rushes to my head. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to hear from me, Till. This is unchartered territory for me. And truthfully, the damn song threw me for a loop.”

I nearly choke on my own saliva. “Song?”