If We Disappear Here

by Mindy Hayes

“She’s a yes girl, a good time girl, always up for adventure. If I say, let’s pack a bag and go to Europe tomorrow, she’d have a suitcase packed within the hour. No questions asked. In all honesty, it’s rare for her to ever say no.” A humorless snort escapes him. “And that kind of drives me crazy because she runs herself ragged telling everyone yes.”

“Ashton’s patience is frustrating a lot of the time. I want him to rage at me, just once. No one is that patient. It’s bottled up somewhere. I keep waiting for the day he’ll finally lose his cool.” With a light chuckle, Ledger says, “Isn’t that always how it is? The thing you love most about someone is also the thing that drives you to drink.”

“Eyes on me, Goldie,” he whispers. “It’s just you and me.” I nod. I am solid. I am concrete. I am these walls. I’m impenetrable.

“I’m sorry I’m not a better man, a blind man. I’m human. Just… Even in our current state, never doubt your beauty. Inside and out.”

My second set of lungs, my second heart. My life support. Taking her waist in my arms, I hoist her up with every ounce of strength I have left. I’ve never hugged a human being so tight, but she’s still not close enough. Burying my face in the crook of her neck, I breathe her in. Cheap soap

“My name is Ledger Abbott. I’ve been held captive by a madman for what feels like a lifetime. And I’m not in love with you.”

“Two Truths and a Lie?” she asks in a rasp, and I nod. “I’ve wanted to call you every day since that night, but after everything I didn’t know what to say. As soon as I saw you standing in the doorway of this house, it took every ounce of self-control not to run and jump into your arms. And the moment we left that concrete room, I stopped loving you.”