She flattened her lips and nodded. “It’s not like I can pack out of here in an hour, anyway.”

“Stop packing and wait. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I moved forward quickly, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and whispered, “I’m in love with you, just trust me.” She didn’t answer, and I didn’t wait.

Grace and Parker were both silent all the way to the airport, but I didn’t care much. My head was too full of Sam, of what I could say or do to bring us to solid ground. At least the door was open.

I lifted Grace into her wheelchair, got them checked in, and then brought them to security at the small airport.

“You good to go?” I asked.

Parker nodded and then stood to the side so I could say good-bye to Grace. “I love seeing you, but I might need some time.”

“You’re in love with her. Sam?” Tears filled her eyes.

“Yes. And I’m sorry it hurts you. For the last five years, I’ve been waiting, and I thought it was for you to wake up, to finally be together, but the more I think about it, I was always waiting for her to wake me up. I can’t live without her.”

She nodded and gave me a watery smile. “I understand. I only want you to be happy, Gray. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

I crouched down to her eye level. “I know. You’re my starboard, my right hand. But she’s my squall, this crazy storm that I never saw coming. I can’t let her go. I have to buckle up, hold on, and steer where she’s headed, because nothing else could compare after loving her.”

She squeezed my hand. “She’s lucky. You both are. I’ll always be your friend, and I’ll always be here. Bye, Gray.”

“Bye, Grace.”

I left them at the airport and raced home, breaking every speed limit from Dothan to Enterprise. We were in the open, everything behind us. We could make this work. I pulled into the driveway and barely had the engine killed before I was out and running for the front door. It swung open before me, and I raced up the stairs. “Sam, I’m home!” I called out and knocked on her closed door.

“Sam?” I knocked again, and then opened it slowly.

Fuck. No. No. No.

I lost the ability to breathe, my lungs searching for air that simply wasn’t there.

Her room was empty, furniture and all. I laced my fingers on my head and walked a small circle in the room. I’d only been gone two-and-a-half hours. That was it. But she’d erased herself completely, like she’d never been here at all.

But my pulverized heart wore the scars that proved she had been.

She’d given up. Left. Didn’t trust me to love her.

How the hell could I fight for someone who had no faith in me?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sam

“There you are, you vampire,” Avery said as I walked into the gym.

“Hey, yourself,” I replied, and plopped my bag on the desk.

It was a fitting description really, since I felt like the living dead. In the three days since I’d left Grayson, Maggie had been nice enough to move my shift to nights, when I knew from Jagger that Grayson was flying.

So what if my schedule revolved around his? At least it meant that I had no chance of running into him, which was exactly what I needed. It also helped that Paisley hadn’t told him that I’d taken over her room and now lived with Morgan. Not that he’d asked. Or texted. Or called. Or…anything.

“What brings you out during daylight hours? Connor is on shift right now.” She didn’t bother taking her eyes off Grady as he worked on his lats.

“Your mom needed help with the schedule.” Of course I’d said yes, then waited until after six thirty p.m. to come in.

“Mmmm,” she replied.

“How’s your homework?” I waited for her to respond, then bopped her on the head with a pencil when it became obvious that she wasn’t going to. “Avery. Homework.”

“Ow!” She rubbed her head and finally looked over at me. “Whoa. You look…um.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Swollen?” she answered with a smile.

That’s what happens when you can’t quit crying for three days. “Rough few days. Enough about me, what’s going on with homecoming?”

Her eyes flew toward the machines again. “Nothing.”

“Does he have a date yet?”

She shook her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know why I’m holding out hope, really. I’m just like…his office supply store.”

“You don’t know that,” I said. “You’re beautiful and smart. Grady would be lucky to have you as a date.”

“Sure, if he liked dating the bottom of the social food chain.” She tapped her pencil on her trig book and sighed.

I couldn’t hide my smile.

“What? You think this is funny? This is my life.” Her forehead hit the book.

Oh, to be seventeen. “One, stop being so dramatic. I was thinking that you remind me of my best friend. She had this thing for this ultra-popular hockey player when she was a sophomore. He was a senior so she thought she didn’t have a chance. She didn’t do anything about it, and he went off to college.”

She rotated so her cheek lay against the book. “That’s the most depressing story ever, but thank you.”

“Not really. Turns out he’d had a thing for her all along.”

She sat up and leaned in. “Really? What happened?”