I turn to walk away, hoping that maybe he’s not even home. Looking up, I wonder if there are cameras, and then I close my eyes tight. Obviously, there are cameras. This is Casey’s house.
“Fuck,” I hiss to myself, and when I take one step down from the step, I hear the lock open. I look down and wonder if the earth can open and swallow me right about now. I also make a mental note to kill Jenna for not stopping me.
“Em.” He says my name, and I turn around, coming face-to-face with him. He’s wearing shorts that go low on his hips and nothing else. His hair is wet, and he still has drops of water on his chest.
“I was in the shower,” he says, but all I can do is look at him, my eyes roaming his chest as if I’ve never seen him naked before. My eyes fall on the scars that he has on the side of his ribs. “Did you need something?” he says.
“Um …” I look up at him and see his smirk. Fine, he knows that I love his body. It’s not like I kept it a secret when we were dating, but I hate him now so there is that. “I came to return your things.”
“My things?” he says, and I hand him the box. “These are yours. I couldn’t give you them before, so I thought I would return them now.” He just looks at me. “Take the box,” I say, raising my voice.
He grabs the box. “Do you want to come in?”
“No. I just came to give you back your things,” I say, turning and walking away.
“I’ll ask my mom for your stuff,” he says, and I stop on the step.
“No need to. She returned it to me five years ago,” I say and see the shock on his face. I make my way back to the truck without stumbling and pull away from the house. He watches the whole time, and when I’m finally out of sight, I let the tears fall.
Chapter Fourteen
Ethan
I watch her drive away, and only when I don’t see her anymore do I walk back inside the house, going straight for the couch. I sit with the box on my lap, just staring at it.
When I was in the shower and heard the doorbell, I thought I was hearing things until she rang the bell again. I rushed out, not expecting her when I opened the door.
She was one step away from bolting, and her face looked so beautiful that it literally took my breath away. I couldn’t understand why she was here, and I wanted nothing more than for her to come in so we could talk. I was hoping she’d come over so we could talk. I never expected her to be returning all my stuff.
My hands shake as I open the lid to the box and find my T-shirt right on top. Picking it up, I run my hands over it. She used to wear this all the time to bed. She would make me wear it when I was over and then cuddle up to it when I would leave. Placing it beside me, I see the pictures next, and everything hits me right away. I take them out and look through them. The picture of us on the beach with the purple sunrise was the day I knew in my heart that she was the one. I mean, I knew before then that she was the one, but at that moment, watching her as her eyes lit up when the sun rose just cemented that there was no one else I wanted to be with. There was no one else for me, and I knew it then. I know it even more now.
There is one of my class books and some random papers that I left over there, but in the bottom corner is the brown velvet box. My heart beats so fast in my chest I have to move the box off my lap. My mouth is suddenly dry and my palms sweaty. Opening the box, I see the engagement ring sitting in the middle of it. My hand moves to take the ring out of the box, and I hold the ring between my thumb and forefinger. Looking down at the ring, I remember the day I gave it to her.
“Sunrise,” I whispered when my alarm went off at four thirty that morning. I didn’t plan to drive up and see her, but with the ring in my pocket, I didn’t want to wait another minute. I kissed her neck. “Sunrise.” She turned over this time and cuddled into me like she always did when she didn’t want to get up. “I have a surprise for you,” I said, and she groaned. Moving her hand down, she grabbed my cock. “Not that surprise.” I laughed at her and pushed her hand away. It took one touch from her, and I lost all my senses.