by Lexi Aurora
“I’m um, going to sleep in the guest room,” she said. My chest seemed to tighten at the words. All I wanted was to hold her close and make her better again, but I wasn’t going to change myself just to suit her. Work was the most important thing to me and putting it first had made me one of the richest, most successful men in the world within ten years of starting my company.
She went to bed and I spent the night lonely, barely able to sleep. I hated that she was leaving and going to be so far away from me. I would probably never see her again unless I ran into her while she was with Casey. That was, if their friendship survived this whole thing. It pained me to think that I had compromised my relationship with my sister for something with Jenna that had only lasted a day. I fell asleep thinking about both of them, and when I woke up in the morning my mood was grim.
Jenna met me in the front room a couple of hours later with her suitcase packed, standing patiently by the elevator. We left again in silence and headed to the airport.
“Can I walk you in?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she said, though she didn’t look at me. I parked and we went inside. I went as far as I could go, walking with her just before she entered the security checkpoint.
“Jenna,” I said, turning to her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do,” she said sadly. “It’s not going to work out between us, Travis. You know it’s not.”
“it could,” I insisted. She shook her head, tilting her face forward to kiss me. It was a soft kiss, one that lingered for a few seconds before she pulled away.
“I had the best time of my life on that island,” she said in a soft voice. “I’ll never forget it. I’ll never forget you.”
I kissed her again but she pulled away. She looked pained, as if she was going to cry.
“Goodbye, Jenna,” I told her.
“Goodbye,” she said, choking on the word. She turned around then and got in line for security, and I watched her for a moment before leaving the airport. I sat in my car for a long moment, tempted to go inside and buy the next plane ticket to meet her where she lived. My hands clutched at the steering wheel, frustrated as I convinced myself not to. Jenna was right—it wasn’t going to work between us, not if she wanted me to put my work aside for her. I thought of my life before Jenna and how it felt so different, so much simpler. Maybe it was time to go back to fooling around with women and keeping it casual so that it would be less complicated from now on. I couldn’t afford to fall into the same situation with Jenna as I had with somebody else. I sighed, starting my car to head home, leaving Jenna behind forever.
Chapter 21: Jenna
I managed to sleep on the plane ride, having not managed to get much sleep the night before after I parted with Travis. When I got home, I was still exhausted. I felt tired through every bone in my body, and just wanted to lay down in my bed forever. I kept thinking about Travis and wondering if I had made the right decision—I loved being with him and loved it when he touched me. But then I thought about school and how I wanted more out of life than to constantly be neglected and ignored, stuck at home waiting for someone who would never really be present, not as long as he had work on his mind.
I thought about Casey again and pulled out my phone. I wanted to tell her that it was over with Travis, apologize, and tell her that I’d made a huge mistake. I only hoped that she would be willing to talk to me in the first place; Casey could be stubborn when she was angry and could hold one hell of a grudge. I had always known that about her, but I had never thought that I would be at risk of being on the receiving end of that anger.
Casey didn’t answer the phone, and I hung up before leaving a message. I was too nervous to actually leave her one—I wouldn’t know what to say. Leaving a message or sending a text to apologize seemed like a cop-out. I decided to go to her house. It was a couple of hours away but I thought it would be worth the drive to see Casey, especially if she let me inside to explain myself and try to make things better between us.
I spent the two hours of the drive with the radio all the way up, trying to drown out the thoughts in my head, thoughts of Travis and what might have been if things were different. We would be perfect together if it wasn’t for his work situation and my need to have my own life apart from someone who would overshadow me at every turn. I showed up at Casey’s, filled with nervous energy as I knocked on her door. When she opened it, she stared at me for a long moment.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi, Casey,” I said to her. “Can we, um—can we talk?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Okay.”
I went inside and sat down on her couch. She sat in the chair, curling up into a ball, waiting for me to speak.
“It’s over with Travis,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“It was a mistake. A huge one. We just wouldn’t work out together. I’m so sorry, Casey.”
“No, I’m sorry,” she said, surprising me. “I was a huge brat. I really was. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”
“I understand why you did. After high school, being told every day that some girl liked your brother—”
“That was high school,” Casey said. “We’re grown up now. My brother deserves to be happy and so do you. It’s okay if you love him. You’re perfect for each other.”
“I don’t love him,” I insisted, though even as I spoke the words I knew they weren’t true. But I would deny them until I didn’t feel anything for him anymore. I had to, otherwise it was going to make me crazy to have lost him.
Casey gave me a look. “I saw you two together, remember? And I know you both. You’re in love with my brother.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I thought you didn’t want us to be together, anyway.”
“I was just jealous. I thought I was losing you.”
I reached across the table and held her hand. “You would never lose me, Casey.”
“I want you to be happy,” Casey said. “If that means being with Travis, you should be with him.”
“Like I said, it would never work out. I’m just glad the whole thing’s over and you and I are okay. We are, right?”
“Yes,” said Casey, getting up to hug me. “I’m really sorry again, Jen.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just forget about it and move on,” I said.
“Deal,” she said, smiling. I was so glad to see that look on her face again that for a moment I didn’t feel the pain of losing Travis anymore.
“Are you really broken up with him?” Casey asked.
“Yeah,” I said, hating to admit it. We hadn’t even lasted a day together before things had gone sour. It was a massive blow after how perfect the week had been on the island, and I felt stupid for ever believing that things would work out between Travis and I.
“Why? Can I ask? Is it gross?”
I laughed. “It’s not gross.”
“So what is it?”
“He just—he works so much. He’s so busy. And it’s always going to be like that—you know how much he loves work. He even worked on vacation.”
“I know,” said Casey, frowning. “But like I said, he loves you. Are you sure there’s no way you can work things out?”
“You know me. I can’t just settle down like that. I can’t be someone’s shadow.”
She nodded. “You’re too good for that. I’m just sorry that things didn’t work out with him. You two really are perfect together.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I didn’t want to admit it at first, but you balance each other out pretty well.”
I looked down at my hands, a wave of sadness washing over me.
“Well, it’s time to move on now,” I said. “I have to go back to school, anyway.”
“Are you going to be okay?” asked Casey.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be alright. I just have to get over it.”
“It’s a hard thing to get over,” said Casey.
“Being in love is hard.”
“I’m not—”
“Okay, okay,” she said, putting her hands up. “You’re not in love. My bad. Just know that if you need anything, I’m here for you.”
“Thank you,” I said. She hugged me again and we spent the rest of the day talking about other things; she caught me up on the past week and told me all about her date with Jack since she hadn’t had the chance to do it before. By the time I left, the pain that I felt thinking about Travis had lessened somewhat. Talking to Casey about it had made me realize that I could move on and heal from this given the time.
Chapter 22: Travis
I was sitting at my desk at work, nearly dozing off when my phone went off. I hadn’t been sleeping much lately and people were starting to notice. Just this morning, Arthur had taken one look at my unshaven face and asked me what was wrong. I didn’t want to admit that I was feeling this way because of a woman, especially not one who had left me without so much as a look back. I felt humiliated by the way it had ended—it was my fault entirely for neglecting her, for insisting that my work was more important. I had been an idiot, and now there was nothing that I could do but hope that I would feel better in a few days.
I looked at my phone to see a text from Casey and I checked it nervously, hoping that it wasn’t going to be an angry confrontation. I was relieved when I saw that she had texted me several pictures from the trip, including one of me and Jenna on the beach, standing close to each other but not quite touching. Just looking at the pictures, I could see how Casey would have figured out that Jenna and I were together. There were a few of us looking at each other, and I recognized the look of desire in both of our eyes. It made a lump form in my throat just remembering how perfect everything that I had lost had been.
Casey sent me a text after the pictures.
Thank you again for the trip, bro. It was fun.
I texted her back right away.
You’re welcome. How are you?
I’m good. I talked to Jenna. I’m really sorry to hear what happened.
Really? That surprised me. I hadn’t thought that Casey would change her mind about Jenna and I so soon. She almost sounded supportive in her sympathy.
Yes. I think you’re good together.
What did she tell you?
She said that you work too much and you would never be home. I think you need to try harder.
That frustrated me. I felt like I had tried as hard as I could to convince Jenna to stay. She had been so stubborn, though, so determined that things wouldn’t work out between us that she hadn’t even given me another day to try to prove to her that we could make things work and be happy together.
What should I do?
Something romantic.
Like what?
Maybe you should go find her and talk to her.
I thought about that for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea. On one hand, it might be easier to convince Jenna to talk to me in person. On the other, there was always the possibility that she would reject me, and I would come home heartbroken with my tail between my legs. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized it would be worth it to try even if she turned me down. I loved Jenna. There had been a hole in me since we’d parted that I knew would never be filled by anything—not by work or other women. Only Jenna could make me feel whole and complete. I had never felt that with anybody else and I knew I never would.
I’m going to do it. I just hope it works.
Don’t screw it up. :P
Hopefully I won’t. Wish me luck, sis.
Good luck!
I dialed the number of my pilot right away, telling him to ready my plane to go see Jenna. It didn’t matter what happened when I got there as long as I got to talk to her and tell her that I loved her and wanted to be with her forever. There was no point in having everything that I had without somebody to share my life with, and I didn’t want any of it if it meant that Jenna would be lost to me forever.
As I boarded the plane, I gave a short, silent prayer that everything would work out with Jenna. I wanted to be with her, and I was going to do everything I could to make that happen, no matter what it took. When I got to town, I took some time to go to a jewelry store. I had to pick out the perfect ring for Jenna—if we were going to be together, I wanted to make it last. I wanted to really be together forever. I picked out a ring with a single, large diamond set in white gold, simple and elegant. I wanted everything to be perfect when I saw her, and I hoped that she would be convinced enough to say yes when I asked her to marry me.
Chapter 23: Jenna
I woke up from my nap and dragged myself to the bathroom, looking in the mirror to see dark circles underneath my eyes. I felt terrible and looked even worse, but I didn’t do anything about it, just quickly threw my hair up in a ponytail and got dressed for my last class of the day.
I started across the campus from the dorms, yawning and stopping at the coffee cart on the way to class. I sipped it as I walked, the cool breeze feeling good on my skin.
“Jenna,” came a voice behind me, a voice I recognized right away. My heart fluttered in my chest and I turned around to see Travis jogging up to me. I stopped walking and let him catch up.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“I couldn’t just let you go,” he said. “I couldn’t.”
“Travis, we talked about this—”
“You want me to quit my job, Jen? Sell my company? I swear to god I’ll do it. Just say the word.”
I stared at him, trying to read his expression. His face looked earnest, his voice serious.
“I don’t know—”
“Jenna,” he said, putting his hand on my waist, tracing it with his fingers in a way that made me shiver with desire that I didn’t want or need.
“What?” I asked him, my voice trembling slightly. He touched my cheek then, stroking it with his thumb. Then he leaned in and kissed me softly. I didn’t kiss him back, but did allow him to linger there.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I met you.”
I laughed. “You were twelve.”
“You were my first crush. My only crush. I never stopped thinking about you. I still can’t get you off of my mind.”
“But your work,” I said. “It’s so important to you. I can’t be the second most important thing in your life.”
“You won’t be,” he promised. “I told you. I would sell my company in a heartbeat if you told me to. I would do anything to be with you, Jenna. Anything. I love you.”
I felt my breath catch in my chest when he said the words. We had both avoided them at the airport, though I could feel the heaviness of the unspoken words between us.
“I’m sorry. I promise things will be good. I will do everything in my power to make you happy.”
“I love you,” I said in a quiet voice, realizing then that I had been denying something that was impossible to ignore. “And yes, I want to be with you.”
“Good,” he said, smiling at me. “Sweet girl.”
I kissed him, then, pressing my mouth to his. He sucked tenderly on my bottom lip before deepening the kiss, tasting my mouth, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull my body against his. Lust and love both filled me at once, taking over my body, making me press against him as he kissed me. I moved against him and he chuckled, pulling away.
“We’re in the middle of your campus,” he said. I took his hand, then, kissing his knuckles. Then I led him into the science building, which was quiet and dim at this time of day. I knew there would be rooms free. We walked past several, glancing in to see students studying or a teacher lecturing. Finally, we found a room that was free. I used my key to get in—all upper level science students had keys to the building so that they could get in and out of their labs whenever they needed to. We went inside the room and turned the light on, locking the door behind us.
“Bad girl,” he said. “You want me to fuck you in here, baby?”
“Ple
ase,” I said, knowing he couldn’t resist when I said that word. I had a feeling that he didn’t want to resist, anyway. He wanted me as badly as I wanted him. I would always want him. I kissed him then, pulling him over to the desk at the front of the classroom. I sat down on it and pulled him close to me, parting my legs so that he could stand between them.
“Jenna,” he said. “I have missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” I whispered, not even knowing how much I meant it until I said the words aloud. I had been thinking about Travis ever since I left him, trying to suppress the thoughts as they overwhelmed me, especially when I was lying in bed alone at night. I couldn’t help but to imagine what it would be like to have him beside me in my bed, touching and holding me every night. Now I knew that I would get to live that reality. I would never have to go to bed without him again.