For two days, my phone’s been barraged with calls from Echo. I love him, but every time he rings, I force myself not to answer. I’ve spent hours searching for a way for me to stay with Echo in Archer’s Creek. I can’t go back to him until I know there’s a way for it to be forever. But I don’t think I can hold out much longer.
I miss him.
His calls always end with him leaving me a message and torturing me with his words.
Day One
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this to us, sugar. You love me. We both know you love me, so why would you want to leave? I know I caused this. That my guilt caused this. But you ran away without even trying. You’re mine, Livvy, and I’m yours. Don’t you see there won’t ever be anyone else for me but you?”
“Do you remember that day when I reminded you why you belong to me? Do you remember how your body craved it? You begged for me to take over and remind you why you’re mine. You pleaded for me to touch you and make you feel the pleasure only I can give you. Nothing else will ever feel the way it does when you give yourself over to me completely. This is my fault. I haven’t reminded you in too long, and you’ve forgotten. When you come back to me, I’ll make sure you never forget again. I’ll make you come so hard and so many times that you’ll orgasm screaming my name for the rest of our lives.”
“I miss you. I miss your smile when you wake up. I miss those tiny shorts you wear. I miss the way you sound when I kiss your neck. I miss the way you smell when you’re turned on. I miss the way you smile at everyone who comes into the bar, but when you look at me, it’s brighter and happier than for anyone else. I miss the way you used to stare at me when you thought I wasn’t looking. I miss the way you love me and the way you’re surprised that I love you back. I just miss you, sugar. Please come home.”
“I hate you for doing this to us, Olivia. You’re stronger than this, but you’re behaving like a coward who runs at the first sign of a problem. I hope you’re as fucking miserable as I am. You turned up and showed me what it was like to want to spend the rest of your life with someone, and then you just up and walked away without giving a fuck about the carnage you left behind.”
Day Two
“Sugar, it’s been too long since I kissed you. When you were hurt, I worried that I’d hurt you more, so I stopped. I was scared to touch you. I know that was stupid of me, and I promise it won’t ever happen again. When I get you back, I’m gonna worship your body. I’m gonna kiss your gorgeous lips, then all the way down your neck. I can’t wait to feel your pulse race when I put my hands on you. I can’t wait to feel the hard peaks of your nipples against my fingertips, or hear your breath hitch when I suck and bite on them. I can’t wait to stroke every inch of your soft skin or push my hands between your legs so I get to see that perfect pussy of yours. I can’t wait to taste you again. To run my tongue through your cunt and find your clit ready and waiting. I can’t wait to push my fingers inside you and feel your tight heat clench around them when you come all over my hand. I can’t wait to finally plunge my cock back inside you and feel you milking my dick as I spill my seed as deep inside you as I can. I can’t wait to reclaim every inch of you as mine.”
“I love you.”
“I miss you, sugar. I miss how you argue with me and defy me. I miss the way you smell and how you kick off the covers and sleep on my chest. I miss your snarky fucking attitude. I miss the way you laugh when you’re doing your girly shit with Brandi. I miss you. Stop this and come back to me.”
“I can’t wait to see the shade of red your ass goes when I take you over my knee. This time I might bend you over a chair so I can watch the cream drip from your pussy as you beg for me to spank you harder. I love it when you push your ass into my hands, so desperate for more. Either way, I’m gonna punish you so good for running away. I’m gonna fuck you till you’re on the brink of screaming. Then I’m gonna stop and let your orgasm fade and start all over again. I’m gonna come all over your reddened ass and watch as my seed drips down your skin. I still need to claim that ass of yours. That tight virgin hole’s just waiting to be taken by me. You’re my perfection. You make everything better, and every fucking inch of you belongs to me. When I get you back, we’re gonna have our forever, sugar, our happy ever after.”
Seven days without him, and I’m miserable. I’m a stupid, stubborn idiot. I love him. I want to be with him, but it could take months or years to get a work visa, and I would have to come home again. I’m torturing myself with the future and wasting the time I could have with him now.
“Olivia, you need to get out of this flat. It’s been a week, honey. It’s time to pull yourself together. Either go back to him like you know you want to, or sort out your life here. You need to find a job and somewhere to live,” James says as he passes me a cup of tea, sinking down next to me on the sofa.
“I know. I do. I can’t stay here forever. I just don’t know what to do anymore,” I say. My phone rings and both my and James’s eyes move to the screen. “It’s Echo.”
James nods enthusiastically. “Answer it,” he prompts me.
I reach for the phone, pause and pull back, then reach for it again. The ringing stops just as my fingers finally wrap around the case. “Call him back, Liv. Do it now before you talk yourself out of it,” James says.
My hands shake as I tap the screen and start to call him. Before I can press the button, the phone beeps, informing that there’s a voicemail.
Quickly selecting it, I hold the phone to my ear and wait for Echo’s words. “I can’t get you out of my head, sugar. I moved out of our house and back to the club. I’ve tried running from your ghost, but no matter where I go, the images in my head never go away. I wish I’d never met you. I was okay till you steamrollered my heart. But then I’d never know what it was like to love someone so completely that a piece of you is missing when you’re not together. I’m searching for you, sugar. I wish I could give up and let you go, but I can’t. I want forever with you.”
Silent tears fall from my eyes, and I swipe them quickly away. “God, I’m so pathetic. I need to stop crying,” I say, sniffling.
“What did he say?” James asks. I hand my phone to James and he listens. His eyes soften with Echo’s words, and he passes the phone back to me.
I hold the phone tightly between my fingers. Looking up at James, I say, “I don’t know what to do.” He smiles sadly at me. “I miss him. I’m torn, because my head’s telling me that this is for the best, that suffering now will save me from an even worse heartache in a month’s time. But my heart’s telling me I’m an idiot, and I’m starting to agree. I’m wasting valuable time I could have with him. Oh God, I should be spending my time just being in love and making a lifetime of memories.”
James smiles as he watches me make my decision. “I need to go home. Back to Echo and the rest of my Archer’s Creek family. I miss them, and not just Echo. I miss Brandi and Gus. Hell, I even miss Daisy and his silence, and Sleaze in all his stoic wisdom. I miss my life there. But most of all, I miss my man. He’s right. A part of me is missing when I’m not with him. My heart feels empty, and I’m a bloody idiot for wasting all this time being miserable without him.” I jump up from the sofa.
Clapping diverts my attention from James to Dan as he walks towards us. “Thank fuck for that, Liv. It took you long enough to figure it out,” Dan says. Smiling broadly, I roll my eyes at him. “It’s a good job I’ve already booked you tickets back to Texas tomorrow night, isn’t it?” Dan says, fluttering a flight confirmation email in his hand.
I throw myself into his arms. “Thank you.”
James’s arms wrap around me from behind, squishing me in a hug surrounded by my best friends. I finally pull back, and James announces, “Right, let’s go and celebrate. Pastiche for food, and then on to the Glory club for some goodbye drinks.”
I nod and grab my jacket. With James’s arm wrapped around my shoulders, I leave the flat, smiling for the first time in a week.