I don’t remember how long I spent sitting there, wondering what I was going to do about this. Common sense told me to call Chris, but my heart told me to call Ethan. I eventually decided to give up, and I went back to the office with my heart in my stomach and my mind racing all over the place. As
“So, are you going to do it?” Rachel asked. “I don’t know,” I replied. We were sitting on the balcony, eating a pizza and listening to the neighbours arguing over the broken sink. “It’s a fucking big deal,” she said. “You’ll be Joanna’s equal, and you get to run your own branch however you want it
But was that worth going back?I could always just keep my head low and try to avoid any situation where he would know I was back in the States. As long as we never crossed paths, how would he ever know that I was around? Manhattan was a big place. And there was no way we would ever run into each ot
“You don’t have to be involved in the marketing aspect,” I said. “You just handle the money, and I’ll handle everything else.”“You’re crazy,” she laughed, shutting her laptop and turning to face me. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.”“I’m not going to force you, Rach,” I said. “At the
MARCUSEverything was going to hell, right before my eyes. And no matter what I did, there was no stopping it now. Seeing Ethan back like he’d never left was like a shock to my system. When I walked into the stables and found him standing there with our mother, I suddenly felt like I was back in th
“Marcus,” I replied. Her smile deepened, and I suspected that she knew exactly who I was. “So what are you doing here, Marcus?” she asked. “It’s barely past eight. Surely you must know that the best time to have a drink at a bar is by 11.”“Not when you’ve had the kind of day I have,” I replied.“T
“Fuck!” she exclaimed, breathing heavily. “That was… wow!”I didn’t say anything. I simply stared straight ahead, thinking about what had just happened. My hands were still shaking, and my vision was blurred as I tried to push the image of Liv out of my head. But no matter how hard I tried, I just c
As soon as we landed at J.F.K., my heart started to beat quickly. Maybe it was something in the air. Maybe it was the way I felt like everybody was looking at me. Or maybe it was simply the fact that I still hadn’t come to terms with the reality of coming back. “Well, this is it,” Rachel said as we
“I know enough,” she said. “I knew her even before you did, Ethan. And I’m telling you, she’s nothing but trouble. What happens when she gets what she wants? What happens when she takes everything you have? Do you really think she isn’t a golddigger who is just trying to get close to you for your m
The first thing on my mind when I woke up was Ethan. I bolted out of bed instantly, and I had to grip the bed frame as I swayed and nearly toppled to the ground. I felt like my brain was trying to explode from my skull, and the ringing in my ear was constant. I had to sit down on the bed once again
Everything else that happened was a blur. All I saw was red, and I just wanted to hurt him. It wasn't until he passed out that I finally let up on him, taking a step back and turning to face Liv, who looked absolutely petrified. That was the last thing I remembered before passing out. "Where is tha
ETHANThe first thing I heard was the beeping. As I tried to open my eyes, a blinding pain shot up my entire body, and I almost couldn't breathe for a second. I felt like someone had smacked me in the face with a sledgehammer, and then gotten several bags of cement and laid them all over my body. I
“Forget them,” he said. “We’ll get you some new ones once we’re out of the country.”“Chris, listen to me,” I said. “Please, just let me do this. I won’t take long. You can watch me the entire time.”He stared at me with his eyes narrowed, clearly trying to figure out what I was up to. To be honest,
I saw the moment the gun went off, with the brief flash at the end of the barrel, while I threw myself entirely onto Chris' arm in an attempt to shove him out of the way. But the bullet had been shot, and I turned in horror to find Ethan falling to the ground. And in the moment, I felt like the worl
Oh, God!"Chris," I whispered, my voice barely above a whisper, “what happened to you?"He flinched like I'd slapped him, and his eyes darted down to the marks. "D-don't l-l-look at that,” he said, stammering as he stepped away from me, keeping the gun leveled at my head. "What happened to you, Chr
I'd never felt more fear in my entire life than I did staring down the barrel of a gun, with Chris standing on the other end. To say that I was terrified would have been the understatement of the century. I froze completely, like a deer caught in headlights. And it was as if my brain had switched of
"I'll always worry about you," he said. "It doesn't matter what the circumstances are.""That's so sweet," I said. "Now run along and let me finish packing up here."He looked like he wanted to argue, but I stared him down adamantly until he gave up and shook his head, accepting his own defeat and t