“Of course I’m serious.”
“You realize your name literally meanshappy-crazy?”
“Well,nowI do.”
His eyes narrow. “You sure you’re not giving me something fake, so I can’t track you down?”
“I swear,” I say, choking down a laugh.If only he knew…
“Felicity Wilde,” he murmurs, shaking his head like it’s the most amusing thing he’s ever heard.
“Uh huh. Don’t forget it when you’re a famous rockstar.”
God, I wish my voice didn’t break.
The amusement fades from his gaze. “Not a chance in hell I’ll ever forget you.”
My eyes are starting to well up again, so I jerk my head toward the stairs. “Go. You’re going to miss your plane. I mean it.”
A deep sigh moves through him. With regret etched on his features, he makes his way down my stairs. Pausing at the bottom, he casts one final look up at me. There’s nothing he can say. No promises he can make. No vows he can take. Just one thing left to say.
“Goodbye, Felicity.”
My throat seizes up as I watch him walk out of my life. I wait until he’s around the corner, out of view, before I exhale the ragged sob I’ve been keeping inside my throat.
Goodbye, lover.
* * *
I spendthe rest of the morning curled into a ball on my bed, hugging a pillow that still smells like him tight against my chest, watching the seconds tick by in slow circles on my silver watch face. Unmoving, I count down the hours until noon. Until I know, with absolute certainty, that he’s on that plane. Out of my life.
Gone.
Three tiny drops of blood on my pale blue sheets are the only evidence in existence that, for a single night, Ryder Woods was mine and I was his. Well… in addition to the dull ache between my thighs and the faint hickey mark on my neck. With time they’ll fade, and everything will go back to the way it was before I met him.
But nothing,nothing, will ever be the same now that he’s gone.
Eventually, I force myself to stop moping — more out of necessity than actual desire. I shower and dress for my shift at The Nightingale, sliding into my crop top and booty shorts with a grimace. No matter how many times I wear this outfit, it never seems to improve.
It’s a busy night at the bar. I’m so occupied filling orders, I barely have a chance to talk to Carly at all. She’s equally busy handling the stage, ushering different acts on and off with a tenacity I admire. I don’t let myself think about Ryder or what he’s doing, because I’m nearly positive crying into people’s cocktails would have a detrimental effect on my tips. I paste a smile on my face and put a bounce in my step as I flit through my section, grabbing empty glasses and refilling baskets of bar peanuts.
It’s almost closing time when Adam walks up to me, a pissy expression on his face.
“There’s a phone call for you.”
My heart leaps at the news. I feel a grin tugging at my lips. “Really?”
“You can take it in my office,” he grumbles. “But let’s not make this a habit, okay? You’re here to work, not chit-chat.”
I practically fly to the back room, running down the hall to Adam’s office like I have wings on my heels. There’s really only one person I can think of who’d know to call me here. My pulse pounds faster as I try to imagine what he’s going to say to me. Snatching the receiver from its cradle, I press it to my ear.
“Hello?” I say, breathless with anticipation of hearing Ryder’s rasping voice.
There’s total silence on the other line.
“Hello?” I repeat, feeling some of my exuberance drain away. “Is anyone there?”
Silence.
My grin starts to slip as worry overtakes the joy I felt mere seconds ago. My hand curls tighter around the plastic receiver.
“If no one’s there, I’m hanging up…”
The familiar dark chuckle makes my blood run cold.
“That’s no way to speak to your father, Felicity.”
I slam the phone down so hard, it rattles a stack of papers off the desk. Staring at it like a spider, I feel my limbs turn to lead. I’m completely paralyzed as my mind turns over a single thought on repeat, like a record player stuck on a loop.
He found me.