the thing into the ocean, but I knew I had to hang onto this. It would serve as an excellent reminder of why I didn’t throw the goddamn planner out the window. It would also help keep me grounded if another good-looking asshole with tanned skin and abs for days came knocking at my door.
People said not to hate the player and to hate the game, but right in this moment? I hated the fucking player with a burning rage so all consuming that I wanted to follow through on Ember’s threat of ripping his precious cock off with my bare hands.
But I turned all that inward once I’d searched the room to make sure none of my possessions had stayed behind. I refused to be labeled as that mess of a bride who got dumped on her honeymoon and her husband hadn’t even said goodbye.
Not that I planned on making any stops, but I wanted to leave here at least feeling like my dignity was intact. No one would ever have to know the horrible thoughts that had gone through my mind back in that bedroom, and no one would ever witness a scene like that from me again.
Well, except for the potted plants in my house, because I was ninety-nine percent sure I wasn’t even nearly cried out over all this yet.
Unfortunately, I ran into Big Mac on my way out.
The kind-hearted, kind-eyed man who’d had such a soft spot for me and the asshole was honestly the last person I wanted to see. But he seemed to be waiting for me, hanging around near the elevators going up in the lobby.
He pushed away from the wall when he saw me, coming over to envelop me in a hug that told me that once again, he knew more than I thought he did. “Jaxon left a few hours ago. He was afraid of saying goodbye. I’m sorry, honey. I tried to stop him, but he seemed to think it was for the best.”
I stifled a sob at his tenderly murmured words. “It was for the best.”
“It’s not. I spoke to Jaxon, saw him, and looked into his eyes, and now I’m doing the same with you. He was just as upset as you are over having to leave you.”
That can’t be true. He’s just a fucking good actor. “I have to go, Big Mac. Thank you so much for everything.”
The big guy insisted on walking me out, carrying my suitcase, and even reminded me to pick up my packages from shopping the day before. Then he helped me fit my purchases in before personally calling a private hotel transfer to the airport for me.
Once again, the ride between the hotel and the airport passed in a complete blur, and before I knew it, I’d somehow managed to get my suitcase checked in, go through customs, and I was about to board.
My phone rang with an incoming call from Ember, and I moved off to the side of the crowd of passengers to take it. I relayed the highlights of my morning to her almost robotically, shutting down any emotion for fear that even a single crack would lead to another—much more public—breakdown.
“If you think about it,” she said once I’d finished talking. “It really was the perfect way to end it. No feelings of ‘there should have been more’ or empty promises to stay in touch. It was what it was, and now it’s over.”
“Yeah. Sure. We’re boarding soon. I’ll see you later.” I hung up on her without another word, staring at the boarding pass in my hand and wondering why the hell I was going back.
What do I even have left there?
Chapter 26
JAXON
Being back at the hangar with my tools in hand and grease covering my clothes, it felt like my time in Fiji had been nothing but a dream. Almost like I’d spaced out during my last conversation with Kavan and was coming to with all these made up memories of things that hadn’t really happened.
The heaviness in my chest and a deeper tan on my forearms as I worked were the only evidence that it had really happened and that I wasn’t likely to forget about it anytime soon. Big Mac’s advice not to forget about it at all turned in my head, but it was better if I did. The sooner I let it all go, the sooner I’d start feeling like myself again.
Kavan walked in about an hour later, his face breaking