Page 15 of Lovestruck at Sundown
As I walked away hand in hand with William, I rested easy in the knowledge that those last words didn’t feel too eternal or permanent.
Even though weknew we couldn’t spend the night, we had booked two rooms at a hotel when we landed earlier that morning just so we could all shower and change. But now we needed to head back to that hotel to grab our bags and check out. The afternoon light was quickly fleeting, and Aaron insisted we needed to hurry and return to the airport before sundown, as per my father’s orders.
We were running out of time.
“Are you hungry?” William asked as the smiling receptionist took his card to pay for the rooms. We’d had a mini heated debate back in our room about who would pay, and I lost. Miserably.
“I am, actually.” I felt lighter after leaving Caleb’s grave and visiting his family. A weightIknewI was carrying was finally lifted off my shoulders. “Maybe we can grab something to go on our way to the airport and eat on the plane?”
“Mm.” William didn’t seem too convinced about the idea as he signed the voucher and thanked the lady.
“Excuse me, Mr. Sjöberg,” she said, her accent thick but her tone shy. “Could I bother you with a photograph?”
“Of course.” He smiled the kind of smile he showed to his fans and the media, the one that was not entirely his,as he allowed the young woman to stand behind him while the other hotel employee snapped a photo of them.
The exchange only drew unnecessary attention toward him. He had managed to go unnoticed until that moment. The hotel wasn’t bustling with activity, but a few more people gathered the courage to approach him and ask for photos as well. Even though he must have been used to it, I could see he was growing uncomfortable with the attention, though not for his own sake. He kept glancing at me apologetically as I stared back at him, unsure of what to do with myself. A girl even asked me if I could snap the photo. And I did.
We needed to leave, and William knew that. But he allowed a couple more photos until a restless Aaron intervened.
“Miss Murphy,” he said sternly, “I suggest we start moving out.”
I nodded. David grabbed our bags and rolled them out. Aaron got closer to me.
“Mr. Sjöberg.”
William glanced at Aaron and nodded. “Thank you so much!” he said to his fans with a big smile as another young girl stood beside him and snapped a quick selfie. The situation wasn’t out of control. Only a few people surrounded him, but witnessing the small crowd’s commotion was still surreal and hard to process, like a bucket of cold water in my face. “Nice meeting you all.” He waved goodbye as he ran his arm around my shoulders and started for the exit.
I kept forgetting who William was to others.
Taking a deep breath, I wondered what to expect in New York.
David was holding the SUV’s door open for us, and our bags had been stowed away in the trunk. Aaron jumped in the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition.
“Sorry about that,” William said as Aaron drove away with haste, drawing an invisible line down my cheek with his finger.
“It’s perfectly fine.” I ran my arms around his waist and smiled up at him. The need to be in constant physical contact with him was overpowering. And I could tell he felt the same way.
Settling my cheek on his chest, I stared out the window. The sky was painted orange and pink and purple. Our time in Tel Aviv was coming to an end. It had been an intense day.
“Aaron, I want to take Guille somewhere to eat,” William said. “I know it’s getting late, but a friend recommended this place …” William pulled out his phone and clicked on the screen. I straightened in my seat and saw Aaron pursing his lips. “It’s in Jaffa. Falafel Shawarma—”
“Awni?” Aaron said.
“That’s the one.”
“It’s getting late, Mr. Sjöberg.”
“Aaron, we need to eat,” William reminded him. “All of us.”
“I could eat,” David chimed in with a shrug, but Aaron gave him the side eye.
“Aaron, I’m starving,” I said, agreeing with William. And they must’ve been hungry too.
I knew Aaron was angry at me, furious, but I also knew that he had a permanent and undeniable soft spot for me, and I was going to capitalize on that.
“You and Caleb couldn’t shut up about how much you missed the food here.” I waited in silence for him to yield. He didn’t. Instead, he kept shaking his head disapprovingly. “We’ll grab a quick bite and head back to the airport. Seems to me like you’ve been to this place before.”
“I have,” he replied, his tone still somewhat standoffish. “It’s … delicious.”
