Page 62 of Taking Denver

“I’m fine, too,” I say, sinking low into the bubbles. Silence stretches between us, and the tightness in my chest becomes an almost unbearable pressure.

“I didn’t think you’d pick up,” he says.

I probably shouldn’t have. “Why? We have such an uncomplicated relationship.”

He laughs, and my smile almost cracks my face. “God, I miss you.” I resist saying it back, despite how true it is. His sigh is filled with the pain I feel. “I’ve spent these last few days home doing nothing but thinking about you. It’s like… you’re in me. I can’t fucking stop wondering how you are, if you’re okay, if you’re safe?—”

“He won’t hurt me, Ethan, I swear.”

“Don’t lie to me.” He cuts out the words, impatience ringing in my ears. “I just… I-I love you.”

I squeeze my eyes closed. “Please don’t say that.”

“I fucking do,” he says. “Leave with me. Go anywhere with me.”

My world shrinks to that entire moment, to words of love and pleas to escape. I want so desperately to screamyes, to disappear with a good man. I want to wake up to beach waves instead of bullets. I want to be loved, not obsessed over. I want to be Denver DeLuca again.

“Tell me you love me,” Ethan says, soft words drifting across my mind like amber-hued clouds on a new day. “Say the words, and I’ll come and get you right now.”

“Say the word, Denver.”

My dreams shatter. A make-believe life, with make-believe love and a hopeful future that could only ever be the smoke that evades my grasp.

Because even though I care for him, even though I know he would try to give me the life I deserve, I also know the absolute,undeniable, glaring truth. It radiates red, a pulsing light that casts shadows across the light that Ethan is.

If he really knew me, he wouldn’t have fallen for me in the first place.

“I don’t love you, Ethan.”

Silence. Silence that feels like a piercing scream, a gunshot, the thud of a fallen body against a concrete floor. Tears drip down my face, warm salt across my lips, and I let my head drop back as I focus on the white-painted ceiling.

“I’m sorry, Ethan. If things were different…”

“Tell me to fight for you.”

I hug my knees, my tears dripping into the bath water. “No.”

The silence is brief. “I’m not giving up.”

He hangs up.

As the clock draws closer to seven, I style my hair, do my makeup, and prepare myself for an evening with Ranger Luxe.

The dress I choose is red.

Chapter 23

Denver

Ranger places his hand on the small of my back as we’re guided through tables of greedy onlookers. The soft music in the restaurant plays quietly, but conversation from the other patrons feels stilted as we make our way to a booth at the back.

I pause once we’ve reached our table and glance back at the other customers obscured by a stained-glass room divider and large, exotic potted plants. Usually, Ranger would choose a table situated so paparazzi can see enough to take photographs. Even though Ranger had said this dinner was just for us, part of me assumed that was a lie.

Ranger’s lips brush my ear. “Didn’t believe me?”

“No,” I say, and he laughs as he guides me into the red leather booth. He sits beside me and picks up the menu.

I tug off my jacket. The waiter offers to take it, but I decline—my phone is in my pocket, and I’ve just texted Sebastian. He’d told me that he, Ethan, Zeke, and Ace are going to Pulse tonight, and I’d said I’d get him seats in VIP. I don’t want to miss his response, but I also don’t want Ranger to see who I’m texting, so I keep my phone hidden away but close enough to feel it vibrate.

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