Darak kept to the speed limit, but the miles flew past, and Eden dug her feet against the floor as though she could somehow put the brakes on time. Her pulse shallowed as they closed in on Ithaca.

I don’t want to go home.

Today she’d experienced the ultimate high, and it wasn’t at Bristol Mountain. She’d never imagined she could feel so happy with anyone, let alone someone she’d just met.

She wouldn’t tell him that, though. Her parents were needy, or they were now anyway, and it weighed her down like a block of concrete in a deep lake. If he found out how desperate she was to prolong the moment, she’d have to watch him run, a deer faced with a 12-gauge.

Anyway, this time tomorrow Darak would be gone. Eden’s future stretched before her, blank and meaningless. She cleared her throat. “Where are you going after you leave?”

“Not sure yet. Niagara Falls, maybe. Why?”

“Just curious. You’re on an adventure, right? I’m totally jealous.”

“Why aren’t you out there? Pursuing your own dreams?”

“It’s complicated.”

He shrugged. “If you say so.”

She shifted her position. “Remember when you said you didn’t want to do what your parents planned for you, but you have to?”

“I remember.” His voice was grim.

“I can’t go out and do whatever I choose, and part of that is because of my parents. It would hurt them. I’ve already put them through too much.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, just…trust me. I have to stay in Ithaca.”

“What about this past couple years?”

“Huh?”

“You took a couple years off so you could travel.”

Oops. “That was with my cousin,” she improvised. “Everything was very tame and orderly, and the umbilical cord was still attached.”

“Right. That’s too bad.”

He had no idea. “So if you’re going to do something really amazing, you have to tell me about it.”

“You mean, call you?” He eyed her doubtfully.

“Sure! I mean no. You don’t have to. I just want to picture myself doing whatever insane thing you’re doing. Kind of like simulated fun. If it’s really good, I’ll even go on my YouTube channel and talk about it.”

“YouTube.” He looked at her curiously.

“Or not. I mean, it’d be enough… Never mind. I’m being stupid.”

He grimaced. “Don’t be like me, Eden. Choose your own path.”

He didn’t understand. He couldn’t possibly. If he knew the truth about the bricks that built her prison, all the good things that had gone on between them would disappear. She would disappear. Pressure welled up behind her eyes, and she swallowed against the thickness in her throat.

“Don’t be like me, Darak. Don’t get caught in a snare.”

His lips tightened. “Too late for that.”

* * *

As paved driveways grew increasingly frequent, the distance between them stretched. The silence tasted like a nasty fog.

“Are you okay?” she asked finally.

His brows shot up. “Fine. Great.”

Then why wouldn’t he look at her? “Good. Me too.”

He pulled into the Rite Aid lot, and the fog became a Plexiglas wall.

Over. It was over.

“Darak,” she said as she pulled out her cell.

His shoulders rose in a deep breath. “So this is it, huh?”

Her finger hovered over the Uber app as she nodded, hoping her smile seemed happy. “Thanks so much for taking me. You didn’t have to do that.”

He nodded, his gaze focused somewhere far away as he pulled up to the curb. “No problem. I had a good time.”

Eden cleared her throat. Was she supposed to just get out of the car? Or would a kiss be appropriate?

Darak glanced at the clock on the dashboard, and she had her answer. Was she that bad at sex? She blushed miserably.

Eden was all elbows and knees as she reached for the door handle. I miss him, and I’m not even out of the car.

“Eden,” he said as she climbed out onto the sidewalk.

Butterflies flitted in her chest, and she swiveled so quickly that her head swam. “Yes?”

A myriad of emotions flashed across his face, but then his eyes went flat and he issued a tight-lipped smile. “Take care.”

The butterflies retreated to their cocoons, and her stomach squeezed shut. “You too, Darak. Don’t let them work you too hard.”

As soon as Eden pushed the car door shut, Darak pulled away and headed for the exit. Would he look back? Surely he’d wave, at the very least.

His tires might as well have squealed, he took off so fast. Eden felt the echo of him fade as he pulled out onto the road without so much as a twitch.

Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Eden tucked her cell into her bra. It was time to face the parents.