Page 68 of Silent Heart

“When are you leaving?” I turned away, cranking the handle of the shower harder than was necessary.

“Right now.”

My heart fainted, unable to restart. Didn’t he need to pack? Or clean up?

His voice tightened. “You were my favorite part of this summer, Harley. I’ll never forget you.”

Wait. Wait!This was goodbye. I swirled around to face the stone-cold apparition. “That’s it? We’re not even going to stay in touch?”

Kole watched me for a beat. His eyes were thunderous, the storm clouds swallowing any fragments of blue. “Business calls me to Chicago, but after that, I’ll be taking off again for my full-time job.”

I didn’t even know what that was. It was all my fault. I spent the time we’d had hoping he would open up. There were small slivers of information—yes, he was a veteran, honorably discharged, but I didn’t even know which branch he’d served under. I barely knew anything more about this man now than when we met.

But you know him.The tender heart beneath the stony exterior.

“Kole, what happened?” I pleaded, desperate to know what changed in the short boat ride back.

He only shook his head. Dark locks of hair that had grown out from the former buzz dripped over his face.

This was it. This was how my summer ended. There was no preparation for the sudden turn of events, but a simple cataclysmic separation. A crack formed in my chest. My lungs didn’t fill, and my heart whimpered—it fuckingwhimpered—like an animal struck.

Kole stepped backward. A wild, desperate storm raged in his eyes. It radiated to every inch of his extremities. He fisted his hands at his side. He clenched and tightened his jaw. Each breath was a stag’s ragged bellow.

“I never told you what I do for work,” he began, fighting himself over the words.

“You don’t have to.” It was as if our roles were reversed. He was desperately trying to explain despite the secrets in his life. I was the one caught in the web of silence.

“It’s—”

“Don’t.” I held up my hand.

Kole nodded once, muscles straining in his face and neck. “If I kiss you, I won’t be able to leave, Harley. That’s what you’ve done to me.”

Anger broke through the pain. The unfamiliar blast felt so good compared to the ache of his words that I embraced it.

“Just go then. We always knew there was an expiration date,” I snapped with a wave of my hand. “I’ll be out of your place by this afternoon.”

He didn’t respond. There was no fight in his veins. He simply turned and whispered out the door.

Grinding my teeth, I stomped into the shower. I knew it would end. Had I hoped that we might be able to continue seeing each other this fall? Sure! It made sense. We were both going to be in Chicago.

But clearly, I wasn’t allowed into his real life.

Kole could be an investment fiend, a business mogul, or a trust fund prince, and I wouldn’t be the wiser. Of course, I couldn’t fit into his world! As I thought about it, none of those titles jived with the man I knew. He didn’t sit in an office, his battleground wasn’t a conference room.

I don’t know him at all!

The water blasting from the faucet head was icy cold. I squeaked, launching from the frigidness.

What was I doing? Letting him go without more explanation? Where was he going? For how long? And why couldn’t we stay together after this?

With a towel barely wrapped around my middle, I dashed downstairs. But…he wasn’t there. His truck was already gone.

He hadn’t even packed!

I scrambled to the island where my phone was charging. I dialed, chewing on my lip. I was being stupid. This man was different. He made mefeelthings that I didn’t think really existed. If he couldn’t or wouldn’t fight for me, maybe me fighting for us was enough?

The ringing in my earpiece was echoed by the ring in the space around me. I whirled around. “Kole? Kole!”

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