Chapter 214

Five Days to Go

The car door is heavier than I expect. Like a metaphor for the way my heart feels,

how my

feet feel as I lift them with every step.

I sit down and the door closes with a loud thunk. At this point, all I can hear is the steady

beat of my heart in my ears. Pounding.

Zaid doesn't look at me. He's facing the window, his breath heavy, like he's struggling with his own control. His eyes watch the houses, his lips moving like he's chewing on

them.

I click my seatbelt into place, the sound loud in the quiet. My thoat feels thick, dry and I

wonder if I'm even going to be able to talk.

He still won't look at me. His hands are on his lap, clenched and still.

So I decide to break the silence, my soul still sore from the barrage of feelings his words

caused. "How'd you know I wanted to go somewhere green?"

That gets him.

He turns, slowly, and when his eyes meet mine, those dark, beautiful eyes that I haven't let myself stare into the past couple of days, I feel it like a hit to the chest. His frown pulls slightly deeper, confusion settling across his features.

I look down, swallowing the heat rising in my throat. “I overheard some of your

conversation with Jake."

widen, nostrils flaring like he's about to

head quickly, giving him an out. "It wasn't

to find a place I liked. Somewhere

watch as he looks

you miss the green

I glance down at my lap. "Yeah, green sounds

he picks up his phone and hands

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Five Days to Go

at him, confused, but he jerks his chin toward the screen. I unlock it and gasp. He has a website

single one of them is

air leaves

blinking hard as my throat tightens. I look at him, the tears already slipping past

like he's in pain. Like he can't breathe. Like he wants to run as much as I do. His hand twitches on his lap like he wants to reach for me, and I feel my whole body lean

dad from there?" he says

tears spilling now, fast and hot. I bite my bottom lip to keep it from trembling, but it's no

barely above a whisper, he says, "I listen to you, even

God.

around the knot in my chest. But it doesn't ease. Because he's here. And I'm here. And we're driving across the country, together, toward something that

this road trip is going to

long will it take us to get there?" I ask,

haven't fully swallowed down.

flicking to me, then back to

Five days.

not from the cold. It's from

that means.

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Five Days to Go

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