“Did you hear back from Brad?” Sam asks as he sets the bag filled with the food on the small table.
“Oh, let me check. I left my phone out here on the bed.” I grab my phone and see a text from Brad waiting for me.
Brad: Yeah, sure whenever you want. I just didn’t think it would be so quick. Can we talk when you come over?
Lauren: I think it would be better to talk in a few days. I think I’m going to get out of town for a few days just to decompress, but once I’m back we can meet for lunch or something if you’d like.
Brad: Yeah, sure Lauren, whatever works for you. I’ll stay away from the condo this afternoon so that you can get your things. Just let me know when you’re back in town and we can get together.
Lauren: Thank you, and I’ll let you know.
I toss my phone back on the bed and walk over to the small table, dropping down in one of the chairs.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, Brad just asked if we can talk again. I’m going to let him know once we’re back, and we’ll get together. He’d originally wanted to talk when I came over later today, but I told him I thought it would be best to talk when I get back and he agreed to that.”
I pick up the breakfast sandwich Sam has placed in front of me and take a huge bite of it, moaning just as my stomach rumbles super loud. Loud enough that both Sam and I burst out laughing.
We finish up our breakfast, and Sam disappears into the bathroom to take his shower. I’ve got a lot to get done in the next day or so, and need to get a start on it if I’m going to be able to enjoy myself when we’re gone.
14
Lauren
We pull up to my grandparents’ house and the rental company is already here. They’ve already broken down the tent and have all the chairs on the racks. Realizing they have everything under control, we head inside to find my parents and grandparents sitting around the table drinking coffee.
“Morning, sweetheart,” my dad calls out. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m good. How are things going here?”
“Just fine, the rental company has everything under control, and should be out of here within the next half hour or so. Got any plans today?”
“Yeah, here in a little while, we’re going to head over to the condo so I can start packing up my stuff. When I talked with Brad yesterday, I told him I’d let him keep the condo. So, is it okay with you guys if I store my things in the garage and stay in my old room until I can find a new apartment to move into?”
“Of course you can,” my mom pipes up. “You know your room is still there for you whenever you need it, and for however long you need it.”
“Thanks. I promise I won’t move back for long. I’ll start looking for an apartment in the next week or so.”
“Don’t feel like you have to rush. If you want to stay a couple months to save up some money, you’re more than welcome to do that as well.”
“Well, thank you for the offer. We can talk more about it later. Sam and I are going to get out of town for a few days. I think we’re going to try and leave tomorrow.”
“Oh,” my mom says, the surprise evident in her voice. “Where are you guys going to go?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Sam answers her. “I told Ren to pick a place, and we’ll either drive or see if we can find a last-minute flight. Figured she could do with getting away for a few days to just relax, and I have until next week off.”
“Well, that was nice of you. I’m sure you guys will have a good time, no matter where you go,” my mom says.
My phone pings with a new text, drawing my attention to it.
Zoey: Hey girlie. How are you holding up today? Did you get any sleep last night?
Lauren: As good as I can be. I actually slept really well last night. I think it helped being away from the house. Sam was so kind and comforting to me last night.
Zoey: That’s good to hear. What’re your plans for today and this week?
Lauren: I’m actually headed over to the condo soon to pack up some of my stuff and move it over to my parents’ house. Sam asked if I wanted to get away for a few days, so we’re going to pick a place and get out of town. I think we’ll pick somewhere on the beach.
Zoey: Keep me posted. I love that you’re following your heart and going after what you truly want. No need to settle in life, girl.
Zoey: I want to hear how things went with Brad and how packing up the condo goes. If you need help with that, I’m just a call or text away.
Lauren: Once I’m back, we can plan a girls’ night and drink copious amounts of wine and I’ll tell you everything. Promise.
We finally leave my grandparents’ house, and head for the condo Brad and I have shared for the past year. My grandparents sent us with a collection of boxes they had in the garage, so I could have something to pack all my things into.
We walk into the condo, finding it dark. It doesn’t look like Brad has even been here yet, which is always possible. I take a look around, really looking at this place I’ve called home for the past year.
“How about I get some of these boxes made up for you, and you can decide where you want to start.”
“Thanks. I’ll go pull out my empty suitcases and duffel bags to start with my clothes. I can always come back another day to work on my other things. I don’t think I’m going to take much of the furniture or kitchen stuff. I’ll just buy all new stuff when I get my own place. I don’t feel like ‘fighting over the silverware’, ya know.”
“Whatever you want to do.”
I head to the bedroom and pull out the two suitcases that are stored under the bed. I open them up on the bed and head for my closet. I start pulling out my summer things first, as I’m going to need all of that. The winter stuff and my work clothes can all go in boxes; I won’t need it all until fall, when school is back in session and I’m back in my classroom.
“Here’s a couple of the boxes, can I help with anything?” Sam asks, walking into the room.
“Sure, I figured I could put my winter and work clothes in the boxes as I won’t need any of them for now, so if you want to start grabbing them and filling the boxes, that would be great.”
We both work on emptying out my closet, and I move onto the bathroom to get my things. By the time I have all of my things from there, the suitcase and boxes we started are full.
“Do you want me to make up any more of the boxes?” Sam asks, as we tape shut the last full box.
“I don’t know. I can always come back in a few days and finish packing my stuff, if you want to get out of here.”
“I’m here to help, so if you want to keep going, then we’ll keep going. If you want to get out of here, then we’ll load up these things and hit the road.”
“Is all of this going to even fit in the car?”
“Yep, it should. We probably can’t fit much more, but the boxes will fit in the back seat, and the suitcases in the trunk. We could probably fit another box in the back, and some smaller ones in the trunk.”
“I think I’m ready to be done for today. Let me just look around and make sure I don’t see anything that I’ll need in the next few days and then we can get out of here. We can leave the unused boxes here, so that I have them when I do come back to finish packing up.”
“Sounds good. While you check around, I’ll start loading everything. Once we leave, we can go drop it all off at your parents’ house, and then maybe grab some takeout somewhere and take it back to the hotel. We can pull out my laptop and figure out where we want to get away to.”
“That sounds like the perfect plan,” I tell him, pushing up on my toes to kiss his cheek.
Sam grabs one of the boxes and I open the door for him, then start my sweep of each room. I find a few more items that I place in an empty basket to carry down with me to the car.
I’m in the living room when I hear the door open, figuring it’s Sam grabbing another box. I don’t pay much attention to it, so I’m caught off guard when I turn around and
find Brad standing in the doorway.
“Oh shit!” I shout as I jump slightly. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to. Did you need any help?”
My heart aches at Brad’s appearance. He looks like utter shit, not that I probably look any better. But I can tell he hasn’t slept much, and it looks like he’s cried some.
Fuck, there’s that feeling again.
I know I hurt him, I know what I did was a bitch move, but I had to follow my heart.
“I was just doing a quick sweep to make sure there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do without for the next few days. I only packed up my clothes and bathroom things for now. I’ll come back in a few days to pack up everything else. I have some boxes, so if you come across anything that’s mine and you want it out of your way, feel free to put it into a box. It might be next weekend or early next week before I’m back.”
His eyes are downcast, staring at the floor as I tell him my plans.
“Okay,” he says on a long breath. “And we’ll still talk then?” A little thread of hope laces his voice.
“Yes, of course,” I tell him, as I hear the door open again and this time, I know it’s Sam coming back in.
“Hey, you about ready?” Sam asks, coming to a stop when he notices Brad in the room.
“Just about. Are you still loading everything?”
“Just one more load, unless you have anything else.”
“Just a few things, but I can get them. Can you just give me another minute, please?”
“Sure, I’ll wait for you down in the car.”
“Thank you. I’ll be down in just a few minutes.”
Sam turns to leave, and I can feel the tension in the room. By the look on Brad’s face, I’m guessing he thinks I’ve already moved on to Sam. He probably thinks I fucked him last night.
The silence between us lingers until it’s uncomfortable.
“I’m going to go. I’ll text you when I’m back in town and we can get together,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.
“Lauren, please don’t go,” he replies. “Please, baby. I love you.” He takes a step closer to me, cupping my cheek with one hand, and places the other on my opposite hip. “We can work through all of this and make it work. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Tears fill my eyes as his words hit me, each one like a bullet straight to my heart. I knew, by leaving him, I’d be breaking his heart, but I can’t stay with him just because he loves me. It isn’t that I don’t love Brad, because I do. It’s just that my love for Sam is so much stronger.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t,” I tell him, as the tears spill from my eyes and down my cheeks. He swipes at the ones his thumb can reach, helping to wipe them away.
We both look at each other as my words settle between the two of us. I can see the effect they have on him, hitting him almost as his words pierced me. He drops his hand from my face and takes a small step back. The look of rejection rolls off of him and fractures my heart again as I take on the guilt that I did this to him, I caused this hurt.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to go now. I’ll talk to you later.” I grab the basket and leave the condo. Just before I close the door, I can hear him lose his control and break down. It hits me hard and takes all my strength to not collapse there outside the door. I make it down to the car, the tears still streaming down my face.
Sam jumps out and wraps me in his arms before I can get the door open.
“Shhh, shhh.” He tries to calm me down, grabbing the basket from my arms and setting it on the top of the car, before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and one hand holding my head tightly against him, offering me his comfort. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“He asked me to stay, told me he still loved me, and we could work it all out,” I finally get out between the tears.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could take all your pain away, Ren,” Sam says, placing a kiss against my temple as he continues to hold me tight. The emotional toll I’ve been through the past twenty-four hours is hitting me hard again, and I feel like I could collapse and sleep for a week.
I pull myself together enough to stop the tears so that Sam will let me go. We both climb into the car and he pulls out onto the road.
Lauren: Packing up went well until Brad showed up. Tried to get me to stay. Told me we could work through whatever this was and that he still loved me and always would. Zoey, please tell me I did the right thing.
Zoey: Oh, Ren. If leaving Brad was what your heart was telling you to do, then it was absolutely the right thing to do. Don’t let him make you feel any differently. Give him some time and he’ll eventually realize that you didn’t leave him to be mean, you were just following your heart.
15
Sam
After dropping the carload of things off at Lauren’s parents’ house, we stop in to say a quick hello to my parents. My mom insists on feeding us, so after dinner, we finally get out of there and are just getting back to the hotel.
“I’m exhausted and so full,” Ren tells me as we walk down the hotel hallway. This entire situation with Lauren leaving Brad has me glad I decided to get a hotel this trip rather than stay at my parents’ house in my old room. Sleeping on the old twin bed from my childhood doesn’t sound appealing to me anymore, so a hotel is worth every penny I’m paying.
“How does a hot, relaxing bath sound? Take advantage of the jetted tub in the bathroom,” I suggest.
“That sounds heavenly.”
I pull out the key card and tap it against the door, then let Lauren walk in the room before me.
“I’ll start filling the tub for you, so grab your stuff,” I say, stepping into the oversized bathroom and turning on the water. It takes it a few minutes to get hot, but once it does, I drop the stopper. Rummaging through the items the hotel has on the counter, I find some bath salts that I sprinkle in the water.
I pull down one of the towels and place it on the edge of the tub, so that Lauren has it within reach when she’s ready to get out, as well as one of the bathrobes that were hanging on the back of the door.
“All ready for you in here,” I call out to her.
She walks in, clean pajamas in her hand. The events of the last day is evident on her face, but even with all the stress and crying she’s been through, she’s still the most beautiful woman to me.
“I’ll get out of your way. Holler if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Sam,” she tells me, placing her hand on my arm and giving it a quick squeeze before I walk out of the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind me.
I drop onto one of the chairs surrounding the small table and blow out a big breath. I would have never in a million years guessed that the past twenty-four would have gone the way it has.
I tap the enter button on my laptop, waking it up so I can start searching for a place for us to get away to for the next few days.
“Hey, Ren. I’m going to run downstairs and grab a beer from the bar, do you want anything? Wine? Cocktail?” I call through the door.
“Um, sure. Either a glass of wine or a Malibu Pineapple would be great.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” I grab my wallet and key card off the table.
The bar is a little busy, so it takes me twenty or so minutes to get our drinks. As I open the room door, Lauren is coming out of the bathroom, all wrapped up in the bathrobe, with her hair wrapped in a towel on the top of her head. She looks completely relaxed and her natural beauty knocks the breath from my lungs.
“Thank you,” she’s saying to me, when I realize she’d been talking to me. She reaches for the glass in my left hand, taking the drink I brought back for her.
I take a swig of my beer to help give me a second to clear my head. The lust is overtaking my senses tonight.
“You’re welcome. I wasn’t sure what kind of wine you were in the mood for, so I just went with the Malibu Pineapple.”
“It’s perfect,” she says, taking
another sip of the drink.
“I was thinking we could look at places to try and get away to tomorrow. Had you thought of any ideas yet?”
“I’m thinking the beach somewhere. Think we could find any last minute four-day cruises?”
“Maybe, let’s sit down and we can check.” I motion to the table. We both take a seat around my computer, and I start pulling up different travel sites. Lauren also pulls out her iPad, so she can look up options, as well.
After pouring over a few options, we finally decided on renting an Airbnb down in Destin, Florida for four nights. We’ll drive all day tomorrow, so that we don’t have to rent a car, and then drive back next weekend. This works out perfectly, as we’ll only be across the street from the beach.
We hit the road early this morning, around six. I offered to start the drive so that Lauren could get some more sleep. She fell asleep for the first few hours, and I just enjoyed the drive with her in the car with me; I didn’t care that she was sound asleep. Just having her close to me was enough to make me happy for now.
I pull off the interstate for a bathroom break and coffee refill, and the slowing of the car wakes her up. She lifts her arms to stretch and her shirt rides up on her side, allowing me a peek of her skin. What I wouldn’t do to rub my fingers and then tongue against that skin. The idea has my dick hardening in my jeans and pushing against my zipper. I adjust myself as discreetly as I can, sitting here next to her.
“Have a good nap?” I ask, finally breaking the silence between us.
“Yes, thank you for letting me get some more sleep. I promise I’ll be a better road trip buddy from here on out.”
We both get out of the car and make our way into the store. I head first for the bathroom and then grab a large cup of coffee and look over their breakfast selections. After settling on a breakfast sandwich, I meet up with Lauren at the counter and pay for our few items.
“You don’t have to pay for everything for me, you know,” she tells me, bumping her shoulder into mine as we walk out to the car.
Marry Me (Lyrics and Love Book 1) Page 7