Erin slid out of her chair and onto his lap. “Nothing. Just know I’ll have your penis removed if you look at another woman.”
“Woah. That was… intense.”
She kissed him. He tasted like champagne and strawberries. “Sorry. I have important plans for the little guy.”
“Little guy?” He squeezed her sides. “What kind of plans?”
She dropped a small strawberry into her champagne glass. “We’ll see.” Both of their grins washed away. His eyes were so tired. “I should have trusted you,” she said.
Trevor waited a beat as his gaze drifted around all the empty plates. “Maybe the owner will give us a night in the villa?”
“Maybe.” They kissed again.
Stefan rose from his chair and clinked his glass to get the attention of everyone: Trevor, Erin, Skye, Ashton, and the entire Royal Family, along with some other helpers that were invited to join them in the festivities.
“What you’ve been a part of is our vision for what this island represents. It’s about feelings that we don’t get to experience out there. Our world isn’t all that it should be anymore. It strips us of our humanity.” His voice trailed off sullenly. “Our intent, though cruel and extreme, is to separate ourselves from ourselves. I hope it has provided some answers for you. Maybe answers to questions you hadn’t yet asked yourselves. If nothing else, I hope it helped you all feel what it’s like to be alive. Regret is heavy. Let’s shed it.”
“I could’ve killed you,” said Trevor.
“We took it a little too far. There are some areas we need to work on, to ensure more certainties. No question. Erin, it’s one thing to plan all this out, and it’s another to see a friend have to go through it, to have to lie to you, manipulate you. I’m sorry, and yet I’m not, and something tells me you won’t hold this against me for very long. I know how pompous that sounds. I don’t like it, but I believe it to be true. I can only imagine how hard this was for you. I’m sorry you had to take so much heat. This is how our process goes. We feel it out, and someone has to go the distance. You were that someone and you were remarkable…” He took a breath, scanned everyone’s faces.
He continued, “So, please don’t sue me.” He snagged his scotch off the table and raised it. “You guys have five more days here to get shit-faced, surf, scuba, whatever you want. But I’d understand if you wanted to hightail it out of here. No worries. We’ve got more champagne if you wanna keep the party going.” He checked his watch. “Shit. It is now 7:05 a.m. If you must go snooze, that’s more than cool.”
Erin chugged her glass of champagne. She had consumed enough bubbly by now that she was feeling perfectly fuzzy, her head tired and lovely. “The villa?” she asked Stefan.
“It’s ready. Enjoy.”
Her first steps inside chilled her, picturing Skye and all of the blood. It came and went quickly as the villa was filled with candles and rose petals. Cute “his” and “her” robes were laid neatly on the king-size mattress. Erin walked over and fell into the bed, sinking into the soft cloud. Trevor climbed on top of her and kissed her forehead before rolling over and flopping next to her, shoulder to shoulder. “Did you really shoot them after they shot me?”
She exhaled harshly. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Erin.”
“Yeah?”
“I did something back home.”
She waited, ready to ask him what he had done, but fewer words left her mouth. “Me too.”
He didn’t ask her either. “Hey…” He trailed off yet again.
“Yeah?”
“Never mind.”
She rolled over and nestled up into his chest. “You stink.”
His chuckle vibrated against her ear. “I know. I died and came back. You stink too.”
Erin slapped his stomach, making him grunt. “I know I do.” She slid her hand from his stomach to his chest, feeling his heart beat. She kept it there and felt it slow. So did hers.
Chapter Twenty-nine - Skye
The water was calm but she was still queasy. The sun shined down on Ashton’s six pack, and not a smidgen of sexual desire lingered. She wasn’t ten feet off the ground. Somberness enveloped her, distracting her from the pretty boat ride back to mainland. It appeared that she wasn’t the only one who was reeling after the most bizarre few days of her life. Everyone else was silent, the water around them was silent, and even the hum of the boat’s motor was quiet. At the far end of the boat, Trevor’s arms were wrapped around Erin, and she couldn’t help but be envious. It was a dirty feeling.
Ashton smiled at her. He had a bottle of beer in his hand with the label half peeled off.
They were off the boat in no time. Mainland.
A friendly man dressed in a button-up shirt and khaki shorts was there waiting for them. He helped load up their bags into his dated SUV and attempted small talk in the beginning of the ride, but one word answers clued him in that nobody was in the mood. She felt a little bad for him, but was too drained to worry all that much. The road was bumpy and narrow in the beginning. Along the ocean side she spotted some local kids on the beach splashing in the water, laughing uncontrollably as kids should.
They were herded like cattle the whole way through and before she knew it, their plane had lifted off into the air. No more than five words had been shared amongst the group. They touched down in Boston, their connection fitting in perfectly with their timeline as they only had to wait a half hour before boarding again. Skye looked around at the mix of Yankee and Red Sox hats in the plane, but no brawls broke out. She was asleep as soon as the plane left the runway.
Ashton was searching her eyes for something as they stood outside her apartment building in Brooklyn Heights. The neighborhood was rundown, but her place was only a few blocks from the brownstone architecture that she adored. It made her feel like she could travel back in time to simpler times devoid of screens and noise.
“I think we should break up.” The words relieved her more than anything.
“Yeah… Okay…” He tightened his lips and nodded in disappointment. “Still friends?”
Her laugh was more of an exhale. “That’d be great. Seriously though. I think we are capable of keeping in touch.”
“We’re still going to have sex though, right?” he said half-jokingly, maybe half-hoping.
She didn’t respond.
“I’m kidding. Would it be okay if I called you in a couple weeks?”
“I’d like that.” In the past, several booty calls would have ensued. But this time, that would not happen.
He hugged her and sneaked an innocent kiss on her lips, the final touch to let her know that her gut was telling the truth. There was nothing. She was nothing.
Everything in her studio apartment looked the same. Her stone walls, rustic kitchen, cheap leather sectional couch pointed at her old television that was deeper than it was wide. The open concept leading her to her massive window that looked out toward a series of billboards, usually promoting the latest hit detective or medical TV show. Her bed placed in the corner of the room, not having a room of its own. She had liked how free it was, having everything in one room, not being secluded to smaller areas. It felt cozy; it was an eccentric place, and it had been hers. But no longer did it feel like hers. She was a stranger living in someone else’s apartment, distant from the same brick walls that had comforted her all those nights she lay awake satisfied after heated sex with a stranger.
The smell of cigarette smoke from the hall comforted her, and she fell asleep once more.
Skye woke up disoriented. She didn’t know where she was. Once she became aware, she was disappointed. Her bright red digital clock flashed into her eyes 4:01 a.m. She tore through her closet, packing everything into a small suitcase and duffel bag. She didn’t even take a second to look around the apartment to admire the place she wouldn’t come back to. She just left.