Page 46 of The Getaway

But my brother needs me. My dad needs me.

So, with one last gentle kiss to her forehead, I turn and leave, hoping that Bri feels the same and will contact me tomorrow.

Chapter 15- Sabrina

I don’t even have to open my eyes to know that Noah’s not here.

There’s an eerie silence that rings throughout the bungalow and even the waves sound distant as my ears strain for any other sound. For the past four mornings there was always a sign that he was still here to ease my half-awake brain. Aside from the first morning when I woke up before him, when Noah got up, he would sneak to the kitchen to make coffee. The smell would wake me each time, and he’d come sit beside me in bed until I was ready to get out.

The sun beats down on my back, heating my skin in its warm embrace as if it knows I need to be comforted.

Maybe he just went to get breakfast before check-out.

The thought sneaks in, my heart aching as I squeeze my eyes tightly together to keep them shut and cling to the unrealistic hope.

I hug the pillow to my chest, staying absolutely still as if a single move will change the fact that he’s not here.

Only when the heat from the sun becomes too much do I move.

With my pulse racing, I suck in a deep breath and release the pillow as I sit up. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I force myself to look across the room. My heart drops to my stomach, the air in my lungs heaving out as I stare at the empty spot beside my suitcase confirming what I already knew.

Noah left.

I glance around the room, looking for any sign he was here and find nothing. Pushing up from the bed, I wrap the bed sheet around me, clutching it like a lifeline and go to the living room.

I find the space out here exactly the same. If it weren’t for the lingering ache between my thighs and the faint cologne that lingers on the sheets I’m wrapped in, there would be no signs of him ever being here.

Fuck.

This was only meant to be a fling. A vacation with benefits. No commitments and nothing more.

So, why the hell does it feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train at max speed?

I feel the tears gathering in my eyes and I drop to the couch, fighting to hold them back. Only sitting down here is not something that helps as I put myself at eye level with the seashell tree he made me and find the first sign that he was here.

It was only five days. Not even five full days since he left early. I shouldn’t be feeling this… heartbroken over a man I didn’t even know for a full week.

Ending my relationship with Paul hurt. However, the ache I’m feeling right now is ten times worse than anything from that.

The first tear falls as I stare at the now empty spot at the top of the tree.

When Noah chose to leave in the middle of the night without a word, he took two things with him. One being the pink conch shell that was his makeshift tree topper.

The second thing being a piece of me.

I didn’t know I was giving myself to him. Thought that I was doing a good job at convincing myself that this was just a fling and that I wasn’t falling for him.

But I did.

I came on this vacation to escape the chaos in my life and enjoy time away. Now I have to go back home to finish piecing it all back together and figure out what to do next. And I had to do it with more heartbreak than I left with.

Tearing my gaze away from the tree, I think over the past few days and land back on my first day here and nod to myself.

I get five minutes.

Five minutes to wallow in the pain from Noah leaving without a word. Five minutes to be mad at myself for letting one man affect me like this. Five minutes to cry at the fact that I didn’t get to see him one last time.

And once that time is over, I will pick myself up and move forward.

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