Only One Touch (Only One 4)

I pick up the phone and call Lizzie, who answers right away. “Do you have time?” I ask. “I want to talk to you.”

She comes down a minute later. Sitting here in the living room, I tell her my plan. She wipes tears away from her cheeks and a sob comes out. “Are you sure?”

“I haven’t been more sure in my whole life,” I say. “I need to do this. For me. For her. For us.”

“But,” she says and then stops. “But …”

“But nothing. It’ll be fine. It has to be fine. I love her,” I say, trembling. “So much, Lizzie, I feel like I can’t breathe without her. I feel a piece of me is missing, and she has that piece.”

“When do you think you are going to leave?” she asks.

“Tomorrow,” I say. “I just need to find out where she is, and as soon as I find out, I’ll be on the next plane out.”

“Francis and Trevor are the only ones who will tell you where she is.” Lizzie grabs a tissue from beside her and blows her nose. “And Manning.”

“I’m going to Manning’s house,” I say, and she nods.

“Do you need me to come with you?” she asks, and I shake my head. She gives me a hug, and I walk to the door, getting in my car.

I pull up at Manning’s, and I ring the bell. I hold my breath when I hear the lock opening. Evelyn greets me, and there is not even a smile on her face like always. “Nico.”

“Hey, Evelyn, I was wondering if Manning was home?” I ask, and she takes a step back for me to walk in. Manning comes to the door and sees me. “I just need a minute of your time.”

Evelyn walks over to him and holds his hand. “I know she’s gone,” I start talking. “And I’m going after her.”

“For what?” he asks.

“Because I’m dying without her,” I say. “I die a little more inside every single day that I’m not with her.”

“What about Laurene?” Manning asks.

“I can’t tell you what it’s about, but it isn’t what you think it is,” I say. “You just have to trust me on that.” He just watches me, and I can see his head turning. “I’m stepping away.” His mouth opens. “I’m naming Lizzie my new GM.”

“That team is your life,” he says.

“No,” I correct, “that team was my life. She is my life.”

“If she finds out I told you, she might never speak to me again,” Manning says.

“Unless this is what she needs,” Evelyn says.

“If you fuck her over,” Manning says, “I won’t give a shit who you are. I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

“If I fuck up again,” I say, the pressure on my chest getting tighter, “I’ll tie my hands behind me.”

I walk out of there and call Lizzie. “I need a plane in an hour,” I say, rushing home and packing my bags. She drives me to the plane, and when I hug her goodbye, she is softly crying.

Looking out the window after I board the plane, my mind goes all over the place as I put my speech together. The aquamarine color of the ocean surrounds me when I land. There is a car waiting for me, and when I pull up to the house, the maid lets me in. “I’m looking for Becca.”

“Right in the back.” She points down the marble hallway toward the outside. I make my way outside, my eyes not even taking in everything that the house has. My only focus right is getting to Becca. I walk out, and the sun hits me right away. I put my hand over my eyes as I look into the massive backyard that leads to the beach.

A man walks back my way with a tray in his hand. “She is on the beach,” he says, pointing in the direction he just came from. I walk, my heart thumping in my chest. I spot her on one of the covered canopy beds.

The soft breeze makes the curtain on the canopy flutter. I just watch her as she watches the ocean. She must sense someone is staring at her because she turns my way, and her face is filled with shock. She swings her legs off the canopy bed and comes to me. I take her in; she’s wearing a baby blue bikini. The closer she gets to me, the more I feel alive. “What are you doing here?”

I just look at her as she pushes the hair away from her face. I had this whole speech planned out and knew everything I wanted to say. Yet right now, at the moment, the only thing that comes out are two words. “You’re here.”

Chapter 35

Becca

I feel eyes on me and turn my head. “Nico,” I whisper, and suddenly think I’m having a heatstroke. He can’t be here. How is he here when only four people know where I am? I get up, my feet moving without my consent toward him. “What are you doing here?” I ask, shocked that he is actually here.