Kennedy sat in Kyle’s Jeep on the way to the airport the next morning and ignored him.

“Kennedy, will you please just listen to me?” he implored for the umpteenth time.

Unwanted tears raced down her cheeks, and she didn’t even turn to look at him. “The trip is over. That’s all it was. A trip.”

Kennedy thought about how, after Kyle’s major faux pas, she’d gotten off the swing and limped up to her room, refusing help. Refusing his words. Refusing everything.

She’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about the way Kyle had held Cassidy at the all-stars event. Sure, maybe it had been a mistake, but how had she been blind enough to think they could fall in love in one weekend? That they were seriously talking about getting married after one weekend?

Maybe it had just been a slip, but was anything really a slip? Wasn’t everything a sign of something in your subconscious? She’d taken a psychology class one semester; wasn’t that classic Freud?

After pulling through the security gates, Kyle drove straight to the plane that was waiting. This had been the first time Kennedy had actually been glad Kyle wasn’t coming back to Florida right now. He stopped, but didn’t get out of the Jeep.

Kennedy opened the door and was careful to put most of her weight on her good ankle. Kyle hovered at her side, trying to support her, but she yanked away. “I’m fine. Please, just go.”

When they reached the plane, they met the same pilot as before, Griff. “Hey, Kyle,” he said.

Kyle nodded. “Hey, Griff. Would you mind getting the lady’s luggage out of the Jeep?”

Without looking at him, she climbed into the plane without turning back. Of course, he followed her. She went to the seat she’d first sat in on the ride over.

He sat across from her. “Kennedy, would you please listen to me.”

Looking at his beautiful face now was painful. She’d do better to feel empty inside. “All of that was a mistake, Kyle. You’re not Prince Charming, and I’m not a princess. It was one weekend.”

His eyes were bloodshot, and she noted his hands were trembling a bit. He let out a long breath. “I made a mistake, Kennedy. And yeah, it was a big one.”

“Nothing ever should have happened between us.” She already felt all the walls she’d let down on this trip between her and Kyle were back up again. How could she have thought they were actually falling in love?

“It was real, Kennedy. I don’t love Cassidy anymore. I did at one time, but I don’t now. I haven’t for a long time.” He tried to reach out for her hand, but she wouldn’t give it to him. “I want to be with you, Kennedy.”

Kennedy decided to tell him the conclusion she’d come to at two o’clock in the morning. “See, I thought you were just a cookie-cutter Prince Charming. But what I didn’t realize was that I was the cookie-cutter princess. I was just filling in.”

Looking baffled, he shook his head. “No.”

“Yes,” she said more sternly.

“You weren’t just filling in.”

“I saw the way she hugged you.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” the pilot said, prompting them both to fall silent. “But we’re taking off now. Did you want to fly back with us?”

Her heart pounded rapidly, but she didn’t look up.

Kyle stood, letting out a long sigh. “No, I’m getting off, Griff.”

Kennedy watched him walk toward the exit and then turn back before descending the steps. She couldn’t meet his eyes, and instead looked out the window. “Goodbye, Kyle,” she said.

As he left, she heard him say, “Goodbye, Kennedy.”

Pain stabbed the center of her chest like a knife in her heart. She burst into tears, knowing she would hate Kyle Bones for the rest of her life.