He said no.
“What the hell is wrong, Sloane?” Tristan asked, pushing away from the bar as he watched her. Unable to answer him, she bit her lip as she shook her head, praying that he let it go for her sake.
When she felt Chase’s arms wrap around her from behind, she closed her eyes and released a shaky breath. “What’s going on?” Chase asked on a soft murmur as she felt his lips brush against her temple.
“That’s what I was wondering,” Tristan said, sounding pissed.
“I’m fine,” Sloane managed to get out, wondering how many times she was going to have to say it before she believed it.
“You’re trembling,” Chase said, releasing her so that he could turn her around in his arms and cup her face in his hands. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just a little tired,” she promised him, reaching up to cover his hand with hers as she stood there wondering how much longer she was going to be able to hold it together.
For a moment, Chase stood there, searching her face only to sigh as he leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead. “You’ve got to start taking it easy, Pookie,” he said with another kiss against her forehead before he pulled back as his thumbs gently caressed her face.
“I will,” Sloane promised him, not quite able to meet his eyes, afraid that she’d lose it if she did.
“I’m taking you home,” Chase said, dropping his hands so that he could take her trembling hand in his and–
“Not before I dance with my sister,” Tristan said, smoothly reaching over to take her hand before Chase could and pulled her closer.
“Sloane, I–” Chase began only to sigh when she said, “I’m fine,” as she allowed Tristan to pull her toward the crowded dance floor.
As soon as they reached the dance floor, Tristan was pulling her into his arms and saying, “Okay, now tell me the truth. What’s going on?”
“I’m leaving,” she said hollowly, placing her hand in his as she found herself watching Chase from across the room only to find him watching her, worry etching across his handsome face.
Tristan released a muttered curse and asked, “When?”
“Tomorrow,” she mumbled sadly as she watched Chase drag his attention away from her and forced a smile for Deb, who was wearing the pretty white dress and the tiara that Chase bought for her.
“That soon?” Tristan asked, drawing her attention back to find her brother frowning down at her.
“Yes,” she said softly, almost wishing that it was today, but she wanted one more night with Chase before she was forced to let him go and if she found out that she was pregnant…
God, she couldn’t even think about that right now.
“When will you be back?”
“Not for a while,” Sloane said, watching as her brother glanced over at Chase, who was now dancing with Deb, dutifully turning her and sweeping her off her feet.
“What if he asks you to stay?” Tristan asked as she forced herself to look away.
“He won’t ask,” she said with a sad smile.
“You don’t know that.”
“Can we please talk about something else?” Sloane asked because she didn’t want to talk about this, not when she was trying to keep it together, but she knew that tomorrow, after she forced herself to walk away, that she wouldn’t be able to hold it together any longer.
“I’m going to miss you,” Tristan admitted with a soft smile.
“I’m going to miss you, too,” Sloane said, returning his smile and wishing that things were different.
“So, then don’t go,” he said stubbornly.
“I can’t stay, Tristan,” she told him, wishing that he’d let it go.
“Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?” Tristan said, sighing heavily as he continued to move them to the music.
“Because you’re paranoid,” she told him as she found herself watching Chase.
She was going to miss him so much, Sloane thought, unable to help but smile as she watched him slowly twirl Deb around. She knew this was a mistake from the beginning, but even knowing that hadn’t stopped her from falling in love him. No matter how much this hurt, and god, did this hurt, she couldn’t regret it.
She also couldn’t stay.
After everything he’d gone through, Chase deserved to have his life back and she…
Wanted one more night with him.
“He loves you.”
“No,” she said with a sad smile, “he doesn’t.”
*-*-*-*
“Come on, come on, come on…” Chase bit out, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched the numbers light up as the elevator slowly made its way to his floor while he stood there struggling not to lose his fucking mind.
He should have taken her back to their room as soon as he realized that there was something wrong and there was definitely something fucking wrong. He’d never seen her like this before. She always had a teasing smile on her lips even on those days when she wanted to wring his fucking neck, but tonight…
She looked like her heart was breaking in two.
He didn’t know what her brother said to her, but when he found out, he was going to–
“About fucking time,” Chase said, sighing in relief when the elevator arrived at his floor.
The doors barely had a chance to open before he was shoving past them and heading down the hallway toward their room. A minute later, he was opening the door and rushing inside and–
Shit!
She wasn’t there.
For the past hour, he’d been forced to stand back and watch as her brothers swooped in before he got a chance to find out what was wrong and asked her to dance. He’d watched as her brothers argued with her, the sad smiles that she gave them, and the resigned looks on their faces as they’d stepped away from her only to note the looks of pity they’d sent in his direction before her next brother asked her to dance.
By the time that her father asked her to dance, Chase had been close to losing his fucking mind. He’d managed a dance with his sister and another dance with Deb before he’d given up pretending that he wasn’t waiting for a chance to get to her. The only thing that mattered to him was pulling Sloane into his arms to make sure that she was okay and he’d been on his way to do just that when his sister had rushed over to warn him that Amy was there.
Since he’d been well aware of the woman in question watching his every fucking move for the past hour, he’d returned his attention to the only woman that mattered to him only to realize that she was gone. After playing twenty-fucking-questions with her brothers, he’d gone looking for her and now…now, he was telling himself every line of bullshit that he could think of to explain the panic threatening to take over at the thought of never seeing her again.
Sloane was his best friend and he was worried about her. It was as simple as that, Chase told himself as he walked into the bedroom and swore when he found it empty. Ready to tear the fucking hotel apart, he turned around and headed back into the living room only to feel something that he couldn’t quite name deep inside him ease when he spotted Sloane standing on the balcony overlooking the large atrium. Needing a moment, Chase pulled off his jacket and tossed it on a chair before he dropped down on the small loveseat with a sigh.