Taking in a deep breath, I walked into the room. My eyes landed on the bed and the memory swept into my head.
Walking over to the bed, I stared down at it. Wrapping my arms around my body, I finally let go. I dropped to the floor and began crying.
“Why? Why did you have to tell me you were falling in love with me?”
I wasn’t sure how long I was on the floor. I just sat there, leaning against the bed where Tristan had changed my entire world. Dropping my head back, I realized it was late.
How long had I been in the cabin? What if I had to stay out here all night? I couldn’t stay here all night. Pulling out my phone, I still had no service. Panic began to set in. Jumping up, I quickly made my way to the door and pulled it open. I was beginning to have a panic attack, knowing I was lost and night was quickly coming. I ran smack into someone and I let out a scream. Okay, that’s not true. It wasn’t just a scream; it was a loud blood-curdling scream. Turning, I tried to run back into the cabin.
The person grabbed me around my waist and pulled me back to them. I began trying to hit them with my fists, but my back was pulled to them. I started trying to kick, but they lifted me off the ground.
“Let go of me! I swear to God I’ll kill you. Let me go!” I screamed.
“Ryn! Jesus Christ, stop fighting me!”
Oh dear God, they know my name. I started screaming out, “Help! Somebody help me!”
They started walking me toward the bed. No! Oh God no! Attempting to fight harder, it felt like my lungs were closing in on me. I was working hard at dragging in air.
Can’t breathe . . .
They threw me onto the bed and I scrambled up it and turned around, still screaming the best I could since it felt like I was getting no air.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cabin. The sun hadn’t gone down yet but it was beginning to get darker.
Oh. My. God.
Tristan was standing there, breathing heavy as he stared at me. “What in the fuck are you doing here?” he shouted.
I stopped screaming and looked around. Lark was standing behind Tristan. My chest was heaving up and down, not only from my attempt at trying to get away, but from the panic attack.
I couldn’t talk. Opening my mouth, I just dragged in more air.
Tristan grabbed his chin. “Motherfucker. You punched the shit out of my jaw.”
Oh. Yeah me! I hadn’t realized I had landed one. Serves his ass right.
Lark moved over to me. “Ryn, slow down your breathing.”
Trying to do just that, I looked at Tristan. Oh no. Tristan was here. Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Lark placed his hands on the sides of my face. “Ryn . . . look at me. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.”
“What in the fuck are you doing out here? Are you trying to get lost, Ryn? Do you have any fucking idea how huge this ranch is?” Moving my eyes off of Lark, I looked at Tristan. He was furious. I knew it wasn’t from me getting lost. It was from me being here. Tears began to form in my eyes and I hated that I was appearing so weak in front of him.
Lark turned to Tristan. “Tristan, I don’t really think yelling at her right now is a good idea. Can’t you see she’s scared to death?”
Right at that moment, a damn tear rolled down my cheek. Tristan just stood there, staring at me. His eyes softened a bit, but he made no attempt to come to me. I prayed like hell he would. I wanted him to hold me in his arms, not Lark. Tristan didn’t move. His body was tense and his hands were balled up into fists.
I wanted to call out his name. Beg him to hold me. My heart was beating like crazy in my chest, and it wasn’t from me being afraid anymore. It was from the knowledge that Tristan clearly didn’t want me here.
Tristan turned and walked outside, closing the cabin door behind him. That’s when I lost all control and the tears fell freely. Lark pulled me into his arms and whispered against my hair, “Shh . . . it’s okay, Ryn. Please don’t cry. It’s all going to be okay now.”
It wasn’t going to be okay. Tristan didn’t love me. If he had, he would have never walked away from me. Again.
Grabbing a hold of Lark’s shirt, I cried like I had never cried before.
I NEEDED AIR. PUSHING BOTH my hands through my hair, I tried to get my own damn breathing under control. When I had pulled up and Dad was getting into his truck, I asked him where he was going. That’s when Lark pulled up.
My father looked scared, and my father was never scared. Then he told Lark and me he had talked Ryn into taking a drive in the Jeep. At first, I was confused as hell as to why Ryn was at my family’s ranch, but when he said she had been gone for over five hours, I freaked out. Lark told my dad to go back into the house and we would look for Ryn.
