Almost Had Me (Passion Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

One month. 

One more month with Eddie. With Christopher. One more month in L.A. 

I hated my decision so much, but I knew that Maddie wasn't safe here. Doug had found her once, what was to say that he wouldn't find her again? He knew where we lived, and even if we moved apartments, nothing was guaranteed. 

It was safer to leave the city. The state, and try anew. 

I didn't sleep much that night, and neither did Eddie. 

My mind was spiraling, making plans and preparations, anything to distract myself from the numbness I knew that would consume me when I left.

I called Maddie in the morning, and she agreed, that this was something she'd been contemplating as well. 

"Arizona sounds nice," she said. "Or Wyoming." 

"Wherever you want to go," I said in a dead voice. "I'll be there." 

"You're sure you're okay about this? What about Eddie?" 

My hand tightened around my phone. I blinked away tears. 

"He understands." 

"So that's it? You two are over?" she demanded. 

"One month. That's what we get together. Enough time for you and me to give our notice, to find a place in Arizona or Wyoming, or wherever the hell we end up. After that, nothing else matters other then that you're safe." 

Her voice broke as she said my name. "I'll move. You stay. You make this work with him." 

"No." I said. "You need me." 

"He needs you more. Stop putting me before yourself." 

"It's done," I said harshly and hung up. 

I was standing in the kitchen. I was supposed to leave soon for my coffee with Shannon, but I couldn't bring myself to leave this house. To leave him. Everything seemed so pointless now. 

A hand ran up my back, and I turned to find Eddie standing behind me, dressed in a white t-shirt that was tight across his broad chest and shoulders. He wore a pair of sweatpants. I drank in every detail - his bed messy hair, the dark bags under his eyes, the depth of those eyes and the emotions that swirled within them. Every goddamned detail of this man. The man I loved more than life itself, but who I would be leaving. I wanted to memorize his face so that when I closed my eyes, I could picture his face perfectly.

"You should get going," he said in a voice that was equally as devoid of emotion as mine. 

I nodded. 

"I'll drive you," he said, grabbing his keys from the colorful bowl from the counter - something that his aunt on his dad's side had made him. 

I knew what he was doing. 

We would want to spend every waking second with each other. Which would only make our parting more painful when the time came. 

Thirty days. 

Thirty days full of bittersweet love and pain. 

Why had we been so stupid? Why had we hurt each other so much when we should have been cherishing every day, every minute, every second with each other from the start. 

I could clearly picture how things should have gone. We would have met at the bar, and exchanged numbers. We would have found out we worked with each other, but that wouldn't have frightened us. We would have gone on dates instead of ignoring each other. We would have started good, he would have told me he was married, and would have told me when his wife came back. We would have made things work. I would have been understanding, and he would have been honest.