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“I can’t give up that part of myself, Chloe. That part of me doesn’t go away because I love you. He’s bisexual too and we…”
She blinked and one lone tear trailed down her cheek. “I should be enough.”
…want to love you together.
“Please don’t cry. I love you.”
“You don’t. If you did I’d be enough.”
You’re more than enough—you’re what I wished for. Please, let me get all the words out.
“Chloe, you’re—”
But before he could say another word she dove off the float into the water and swam to the dock. Jesse tugged on the rope to bring the party float back to the dock and made it up the steps right behind her.
He reached for her hand and stopped her from running away from him. “Chloe. Don’t. Wait.”
She wouldn’t turn around to look at him. “I deserve…” Her wet hand slipped out of his grip. “…more.”
She walked away.
“And that’s what I want to give you.”
More.
But he didn’t get the chance to tell her all the words in his heart. Maybe they weren’t enough anyway.
It was a long ride back to the city.
Chloe leaned her head against the glass and vacantly stared out the passenger side window. She was so tired. She spent the night facing the wall, silently sobbing. Every time Jesse made a move to comfort her, she distanced herself from him further—as far as the bed they shared would allow—until she was so close to the edge she feared she’d tumble off. Eventually, he stopped trying.
Eventually the ache in her chest would stop too, right?
She was so incredibly sad. What made it infinitely worse was that for about thirty minutes last night she’d been so incredibly happy.
I’m so in love with you.
Chloe scoffed to herself and felt the burn behind her eyelids build once again. Jesse reached across the console for her hand. She pulled it away.
Yeah, babe, I love you—just not only you.
She thought she was going to be sick and lowered her head between her knees.
“Chloe?”
She tried to even out her breathing, hoping the nausea would relent, but it wasn’t working. “Pull over.”
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
“Just pull the fuck over.”
Jesse swerved onto the shoulder of the highway, gravel crunching beneath the tires. Chloe reached for the door handle and jumped out before he even put the gear into park. She stumbled onto the grass beyond the shoulder, held onto the trunk of a tree, and heaved. Then she sobbed and heaved some more.
A hand was on her shoulder. Another held her hair out of the way. Jesse. His crumpled features made him look almost as miserable as she felt. “Are you okay, babe?”
Chloe wanted to scream at him. Instead, she walked back to the Rover without saying a word. There was nothing she wanted to say. She was empty.
Brendan waited at the back of the Rover with a bottle of water and a towel he wet with melted ice from the cooler. “Here you go, sweetheart. Why don’t you lie down in the back the rest of the way? I’ll sit up front with your man.”
