Page 99 of Love to Defy You
Raking my fingers through my hair, I drop my head, and my tears fall onto the ground beneath me. “I can’t do this right now.”
When Alek came along, he made me feel things, whether it was passion or fear. He wasn’t like all the others who came before him, and every time he touched me, it was exhilarating. It meant something to me, even if it didn’t mean anything to him in the end.
Even now, after he shattered my heart, I still can’t turn off my emotions when it comes to him. I wish I could let go with Enzo and forget about Alek, but I can’t. Not after knowing what it’s like to be intimate with a man I love.
Enzo scoffs. “You like being a cocktease, don’t you?”
I suck in a sharp breath, but his cruel words speak the truth. There’s no use denying it.
Without looking up, I hear Enzo walk away, crunching twigs under his feet as he returns to the party.
When his footsteps fade, I finally look up and glance around at the empty forest. I don’t hear any animals or insects—only the distant laughter of wedding guests having a much better night.
This is my dad’s wedding, and I don’t want to ruin it, but my loneliness crashes down on me and I sink to the ground beneath its weight. My shoulders rack with sobs, and I bring my hand over my mouth to keep from wailing into the night.
The following afternoon, I take a taxi from my dad’s house to the airport outside of Olininburg. Dad and Galina spent their wedding night at a hotel, and having the house to myself only made me realize how alone I am. I barely slept.
I approach the ticket counter at the airport with my luggage and hand the agent my passport. She scans it, but instead of turning green, the light turns red. Frowning, she checks her computer screen.
“I’m so sorry, miss.” She gives me an apologetic smile. “It says you don’t have a ticket booked. Are you sure it’s with this airline?”
“What do you mean?” I pull out my phone to check my booking confirmation. “I always fly with you guys when I come in and out of Andarusia.”
The agent taps a couple of keys. “Oh, wait, it looks like you canceled your flight this morning.”
“What? No, I didn’t.” I open my email, and sure enough, at the top of my inbox is an unread message labeledRE: Confirmation of Cancellation. “There has to be some mistake. I didn’t cancel my flight.”
“Unfortunately, it looks like there aren’t any seats left,” the agent says. “I could book you on the next flight to Zurich instead, if you’d like?”
I sigh and slump against the counter. “Fine. When is it?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
I straighten up. “What? I’ll miss my Monday classes.” Not to mention, I’m anxious to get home to confront Alek, and I’m not sure I can go another night without talking to him.
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else I can do,” she says.
This week keeps finding ways to screw me over. But just when I think things can’t get any worse, I catch a glimpse of a familiar figure standing at the end of the counter—Enzo, with a bouquet of two dozen red roses cradled in his arms.
I grab my luggage and roll it over to him. “Let me guess. You’re the one who canceled my flight?”
He gives me a tight smile. “I knew you wouldn’t talk to me otherwise.” Enzo holds out the bouquet of roses toward me. “I owe you an apology.”
Instead of accepting the flowers, I fold my arms and stare at him. “You’ve got some nerve.”
He drops his arms—the rejected flowers—at his side. “Look, come back to Zurich with me, and we can talk on the plane, okay? I’ll even let you punch me if that will make you feel better.”
I run my palms down my cheeks and let out a heavy sigh. Either I wait until tomorrow to take a commercial flight home or I go with Enzo now. I’m desperate to see Alek, but I worry that as soon as I do, it’ll erase the last shred of hope I have of saving our relationship. All I want to know is what went wrong. How did we go from being engaged a week ago to him going no-contact?
But I’m not sure I can handle another night of not knowing where things stand between us. It’s the unknown that’s driving me crazy.
“Fine,” I say curtly, gesturing toward the departures sign with my hand. “Lead the way.”
We venture to the other side of the airport where Enzo’s plane is waiting. As soon as we board, I take one of the plush, leather seats and pull a blanket around me. I curl my knees to my chest, keeping my back turned on Enzo in my wool cocoon.
I press my forehead against the window of the airplane and stare at a baggage tractor driving across the tarmac. The dark gray clouds in the sky overhead match my mood.
Gretchen moves about the service station, preparing the cabin for takeoff, although she’s moving at a leisurely snail’s pace. The longer we wait for the plane to depart, the longer I have to wait to talk to Alek. And right now, every second that ticks by stretches into an endless unknown.
