Page 135 of Pink and Country

“Carter, I’m a burden to your career. The press hates me. Your fans too. Don’t you get it? I have to leave.” My words were sharp, the opposite of the crumbling chaos inside me.

“No, you don’t.” His voice was like a slap in my face.

“We’ve already been over this. I won’t change my mind.” Please, tie me up, kidnap me, prevent me from running away.

Carter’s tone hardened, his eyes now deep, dark holes. “Then Taylor will go with you. He should get here soon. Don’t leave without him.”

I wanted to refuse, but I lacked the strength to oppose. My swollen eyes burned from all the tears I shed. My mouth was dry, and my throat clamped.

I nodded, my insides a sinking mess. “Fine.”

Would I get over our breakup one day? No. Maybe. Never .

I welcomed love twice and lost both men.

This time, I learned my lesson. Nobody would ever come near my heart again. It’d remain frozen forever.

I pivoted on my heels. “Carter, I have to go—I’m sorry.” With the sleeve of my sweater, I wiped off my eyes and snorted. Classy. “I’ll love you forever—”

Carter locked his eyes on mine. Wild. Angry. Wretched. We faced each other for a long minute, neither of us brave enough to break the silence. Carter’s chest rose and fell. Without a word, he stalked closer, gripped my shoulders, swiveled me around, and wrapped his arms around me. He tucked my hair behind my ears, cupped my face, and leaned forward, his eyes predatory. And filled with hurt. With our foreheads pressed together, we breathed the same air. Thick and charged with electricity. Carter pulled me close, and his mouth devoured mine. With hunger. Love. Lust. And anguish.

I held on to him as if he were my anchor. We broke apart when the sound of the screeching tires resonated outside.

Go, April. Before you can’t find the strength to move on. Go.

I stepped back, a stream of tears rolling down my face. I cocked my head to the side to avoid facing the man I loved more than life itself. This time, I refused to give him access to my soul.

I reminded myself, again, I was leaving to protect his career. Carter might not understand it now, but he would. Someday.

Carter’s world could never be mine. I needed to walk away. And give him his freedom back. So he’d keep shining.

Carter leaned forward and claimed my mouth, stealing every molecule of air from my lungs, once more, and shaking the not-so-sturdy walls around my heart, before escorting me to the car, his hand strangling mine. He backed me up against the steel frame of Taylor’s black SUV.

“You’re in no state to drive yourself, Fairy. Ride with Taylor. I’ll send your car to you in a few days.” Carter caged me between his arms and sighed, his eyes closed. His Adam’s apple worked. “April, don’t go. I’m dying here.” Every word he spoke stabbed my heart. Now I turned into a crying and bleeding mess.

I looked sideways and lowered my head. Carter lifted my chin up with one finger. When our eyes met, I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said, emptying my lungs.

His face turned to stone, and he avoided my gaze as he opened the door for me while Taylor put my bags in the trunk and Bernice’s carrier on the back seat—it now seemed pointless that Taylor made a round trip to my place to pick her up two days ago. My boyfriend—ex-boyfriend, ohmygod, even in my mind it sounded terrible—buckled me in and kissed me one last time, his lips attached to mine. With the biggest whiff possible, I filled my lungs with Carter and my memory with his scent. Cedarwood, pine, and my man. Carter closed the door after me and stepped back, his head cocked to the side. Our tears had mixed. Their saltiness lingered on my lips. I wanted Carter. But not at any cost. The idea of being dragged into the dirt and torn into shreds for the sake of entertainment made my stomach turn. If I stayed, our relationship would impact his career, and I’d never allow that. Walking away was my only option to put a stop to all this.

Taylor exchanged a few words with Carter, then took his seat behind the wheel. He rubbed my shoulder but said nothing. There was nothing to say anyway.

Maybe having Taylor around wasn’t such a bad idea after all. At least until the storm lessened. How would I defend myself if someone showed up on my doorstep or the media tracked me down? I had no clue what to do. I was so out of my league.

The police promised to investigate the death threats, but I preferred having Taylor around. I trusted him.

With my feet on the leather seat and my arms hugging my folded legs, I watched Carter shrunk into himself, with his hands stuffed in his washout jeans pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels, through the side mirror until he became so small my eyes only perceived his cabin in the distance.

Since the shitstorm hit us in the morning, Carter had begged me to stay more times than I could remember.

He begged me to fight by his side.

He begged until his voice cracked.

What he didn’t understand was that I was a liability for him and his career. People would soon forget about me if I disappeared. Carter could bounce back without me around.

A cry, an animal-like shriek, exited my mouth. I broke Carter’s heart after I promised I’d never do that. That I’d never leave him. That nothing would ever come between us. Now that the entire world hated me, my words seemed trivial.

A truck honked behind us. It bypassed us from the left at full speed. Taylor and I spun our heads toward the driver’s window.