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“With all the wedding planning and writing my vows, I’ve just been thinking a lot about those early days,” Meghan continues, seemingly ignoring my comments. “You and Davis were so amazing together when we were in our teens. The perfect couple. I loved you two for each other. The whole town did.”
My chest twinges. “Yeah, well we were just kids back then. We’re adults now, and we know that chemistry isn’t enough to carry a marriage.”
As though the storm is tied to my mood, the rain starts coming down even harder. “Guys, I should get off the phone. I need to concentrate on driving.”
We say our goodbyes and I end the call, so I can focus on the road.
Too bad the only thing my mind wants to focus on is Davis. Truth be told, thoughts of my ex-husband have been on a non-stop loop in my head since the moment he walked into the Hot Sauce with the rest of the bachelor party the other night.
Shouldn’t I be over him by now?
As I drive, I’m overanalyzing everything. Maybe if I could reverse-engineer my attraction toward him, maybe if I could break our connection down to its most basic components, I could find the switch. I could flip the breaker and finally free myself from the chokehold of these emotions.
All my ruminating only seems to be making things worse. Because I keep thinking about how freaking hot he looked. His thick, dark waves, just the right length for raking my fingers through. His full, neatly-trimmed beard that used to tickle my skin. His hooded silver-gray eyes that kept pulling me in all night when I should have been looking away.
And don’t get me started about his body. All six feet, three inches of his body. The bulging shoulders, the strong neck, the broad chest covered in a network of tattoos that I know so well.
Dammit, Alana. He has a girlfriend.Yeah, as if that’s gonna stop me from fantasizing about him.
Physically, Davis Westbrook is everything I could ask for in a man. But it’s really his heart that still holds me captive. The way he loves, the way he cares, the way he protects. Fiercely. Unwaveringly. Possessively.
And how could any man still be so cordial with the woman who absolutely devastated him, giving only the most underwhelming of explanations?We’re just not right for each other anymore.
What a fucking lie. It was a lie on the day I left him. And it’s a lie today.
No. I’mstillnot over him.
I feel that oh-so-familiar prickle at the backs of my eyes. I feel the tip of my nose start to burn. “Don’t cry…” I whisper to myself, trying to soothe the ache as I drive through the storm with my ghosts and my demons riding shotgun.
God—I’ve sacrificed so much. It’s not fair.
But now’s not the time to start digging up old graves. The driving conditions are getting worse. If I don’t get my emotions in check, I’ll end up running myself off the road.
I have to remind myself that despite how amazing we used to be together, I have a very important reason for staying away from Davis. Chemistry or not, we just can’t be together.
As I continue driving through the storm, I try a new audiobook. Some bestselling self-help book Ziggy recommended. But instead of motivating me, the book is only pulling down my already wobbly mood. So I switch to the radio, letting the upbeat songs on the top 40 radio station keep me company.
I’m hoping the music will help brighten the vibe. But the darker the sky gets, the more nervous I get. So I end up turning the music down, wanting to pay attention.
Something catches my eye up ahead, and I lean forward, squinting to see past my rain-soaked windshield. The wipers are moving so quickly now, at full speed.
“Oh god,” I mutter, my panic spiking.
Less than two hundred feet ahead, there’s a massive tree coming down at lightning speed. It’s so big, it’s pulling down a nearby cell tower and all the wires as they both careen toward the ground.
With no time to stop my car, I’m suddenly swerving and cursing frantically, desperately trying to keep my SUV on all four tires in my attempt to avoid the falling tree that’s coming at me.
I watch in horror as a huge part of the trunk collapses diagonally across the slick road. Gripping my wheel for dear life, I manage to steer clear of the biggest chunk of the debris and avoid having it smash my vehicle to bits.
But the wreckage isn’t over just yet. I have no time to react as a huge branch swings violently in my direction.
It crashes right through my windshield.
7
DAVIS
Iput in a half-day at work. With these stormy weather conditions, I would have liked to hit the road earlier, especially since I have a few stops to make on my way out of town.
