Page 78 of Sweet Possession
Away from the image of Dominique and Fox, who were still laughingtogether.
Away from all the hurt.
But running wouldn’t get me away from the voices in my head. Thevoices of the woman in the bathroom and her venomous words. Thevoice of my dad laughing at me for thinking I could ever be more than a pathetic little girl who no one wanted.
There was no getting away from those voices.
“Cora, honey, are you okay? You’ve gone white,”Savannah said,gently grabbing my arms when my body began to sway.
I swallowed past the lump lodged in my throat. I didn’t want to make ascene, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to keep it together.
“I…erm, I don’t feel well,”I managed to say without turning into ablubbering mess.“I think I need to go to the room and lie down.”
It wasn’t a lie, Ireallywas beginning to feel unwell. Nausea churned,and the delicious champagne I’d consumed earlier was now sitting like acid in my stomach.
“Okay,”Sav said, her brows pulled together in concern.“Let’s go getFox and get you up to your room.”
She took my hand and led me through her guests before I couldobject and tell her I didn’t want to see Fox,thatI wanted to go to the room on my own. As we neared him, his head whipped up from where he was talking to Dominique, the smile he was wearing falling the second he took me in.
“Baby girl, what’s happened?”he said, worry lacing his tone as hetook my hand from Savannah’s.
My bottom lip wobbled, tears threatening to erupt despite me tryingmy damned hardest to keep them in. Fox’s concern for me hit me straight in the heart, breaking it a little bit more.
“She said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to lay down,”Savannahsaid, speaking for me when I couldn’t get the words out.
Fox cupped my cheek tenderly. The warm, content feeling I usuallyfelt whenever he touched me tried to bubble up through all the pain, but I couldn’t let it. I’d already fallen hard for Fox; it was going to hurt enoughwhen heinevitably ended things between us. This was a chance to protect myself as much as possible from the heartache storming my way.
“I’ll take her,”he said, pulling me into his arms, a frown forming whenhe felt my reluctance to fall into his side.
“Let me know if she’s okay,”Sav said before turning to me and softlystroking a strand of hair from my cheek.“I hope you feel better, Cora.”
I gave her a small smile as Fox led me away, my heart beginning toshatter at the realizationthatI wouldn’tjustbe losing Fox, but Nash and Sav too.
The only friends I had.
Agony tore through me like a ball of flames, seeping into every singlepart of my body and scorching me alive. My knees threatened to give way to the monumental weight of heartache I was now carrying as my lungs turned to iron, making it difficult to breathe.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, Fox had ledme out of the party, the din of the evening growing fainter as we reached the elevator. As soon as he pressed the button, the doors slid open.
Still clutching me, he led me inside, but when he let go of me so hecould fish around in his jacket pocket for the keycard, I took the opportunity to step away, needing to put some distance between us. I wrapped my arms around my body as ifthatwould shield me from the evils of the world.
When Fox found the card, he tapped it against the reader beforeturning to me, his brows flying to his hairline when he saw the space I’d put between us.
“Baby girl, has something happened?”he asked, stepping toward me.
My feet moved automatically, my back hitting the mirroredwall as I kept the gap between us. The elevator doors closed, locking me in with the only person I wanted to scoop me into his protective arms and tell me everything would be okay, but the same person I wanted to run a million miles away from.
“Cora…”Fox said as if he was trying to calm a wild animal backedinto a corner.“What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Ijustwant to lay down,”I replied, my voice weak as I forcedthe words out.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, his lips turned down. I loweredmy eyes, unable to see the hurt he wore so obviously on his face, but for the rest of the ride in the elevator, I could feel his questioning stare burning into me.
I counted down the seconds for us to reach our floor, telling myselfthatIjustneeded to hold it together a little longer andthenI would be alone.
Like I was used to.
No one could hurt me if I was alone.
