Steal My Breath (Elixir 1)

“He did. It broke. I told him it would be okay because I was on the pill. Seems I’m a fertile bitch and God wants to screw with my already fucked-up life. I’m sorry for the problems this might cause you here.”

I shake my head. “I’m not as worried about that as I am about you. When are you going to tell Tyler?”

“Soon. I just have to work up the courage. He doesn’t want anything to do with me. He’ll be pissed off about this.” Her tears are still falling.

“Tell him. You might be surprised at his response.”

She nods and silence fills the room for a beat before she says, “Why haven’t you been to see Callie? It’s almost been a week.”

“I’ve been trying to get my head together before I go to see her. This week has fucked with me more than I imagined.”

“It was a huge shock, wasn’t it? Have you seen Alanis?”

“No, she’s away with her family at the moment. Plus we’ve been advised to stay away from her. Fuck. It’s a huge mess. But besides that, I’m just trying to get my head around the way I handled the whole thing. I’ve been a bastard to both Callie and Jolene.”

She stands and faces me. “Luke, don’t beat yourself up too much, okay? You’re a good man and you did the best with the information you had. Sure, you could have made a different call with Callie, but she doesn’t hold it against you.” She bites her lip as if she’s weighing something up. “You need to go see her now before it’s too late.”

My heart speeds up. “What does that mean?”

Her gaze drops to the floor for a moment. “She’s had a job offer that she’s hell bent on taking.”

I frown, not following. “So?”

“It’s overseas.”

I stare at her as the room spins.

I’ve really fucked this up.

I reach for my car keys. “Do you think you could bear to spend some time with Tyler while I take off for a while?”

She nods and squeezes my arm. “Go.”

* * *

She takes forever to answer her door, which means I’m worked up by the time we’re facing each other.

“Were you going to tell me?” I demand, pushing my way into her apartment. My body is filled with a desperate need to get her to change her mind. It’s manifesting itself as anger, but I’m well aware it’s actually fear.

I can’t lose her.

She closes the door. “Sure, come on in, Luke.”

I spin around. “When were you going to tell me?” I’m so focused on her answer that I hardly pay attention to the dress she’s wearing. It barely covers her thighs and under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back from running my hand up her toned leg to slip under the flimsy material.

I know the answer to my question just by looking at her face. “I wasn’t go

ing to tell you, Luke.”

My chest pumps up and down. Heavy breaths leave my body. “So those months together meant nothing to you? I wasn’t even on your list of people to say goodbye to?”

Fuck, she can’t go.

I can’t let her fucking go.

Her mouth crumples into a sad line. Closing the distance between us, she proves she’s a better person than me. Placing her hand on my chest, she says, “Those months meant everything to me, Luke. You mean everything to me. I’m going to ignore your anger because I know you’re hurting. And I’m sorry to hurt you more, but in the end, I hope your happiness comes from this decision.”

My brain scrambles to figure out what the hell she means. “You’re going to have to back this up and explain it, Callie, because you’re not making any sense.”