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As that realization hit me, I rolled to the opposite side and squeezed them shut tighter. The last thing I wanted to do was face reality.

Either I’d had more to drink last night than I thought and had made everything up in my head, or I’d had the best night of my life in years, and now she was gone.

It was safe to say I had no interest in opening my eyes to confront that reality. Not after what last night had meant to me.

I was aware from the moment I took Layla by the hand and led her out of the bar that I was setting myself up for trouble. I knew, deep down, that I’d only do more damage to my already battered heart.

But I didn’t care.

I’d done it anyway.

And if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t hesitate tohave another go at her. As incredible as the sex was, it wasn’t even about that for me. It was merely having that connection to her again, having her with me, that mattered most.

Maybe that made me weak. Maybe it was pathetic.

But the truth was, Layla had a hold on my heart, and I didn’t want to consider a life without her. I’d been doing it for years, and I’d hated every minute of it. If there was even a slight chance, a remote possibility, that we could work things out and figure out what went wrong, I’d do whatever it took to make us whole again.

She just needed to give me the chance to prove it to her and make it happen. After last night, I couldn’t go back. I wouldn’t.

We had to figure this out.

Begrudgingly, I peeled my eyes open to confirm my suspicions were true. There was a small part of me hoping my instincts were wrong.

I wasn’t so lucky.

Because sure enough, just as I had suspected, Layla was nowhere to be found.

She’d left me. Again.

I let out a long, low sigh. I should have known. I should have anticipated this specific response from her the moment I decided to give in to those primal urges last night.

With a hollow feeling in my gut, I decided I wasn’t going to do this again. I wasn’t going to let her take herself away from me without fighting tooth and nail to understand why. I wasn’t going to live like I’d lived the lasteight years, especially without knowing how it was so easy for her to continue walking away.

I deserved at least that much.

Tossing the blanket from my body, I strode to the shower to wake myself up and clear my head. While I was in there, I attempted to come up with a plan for how to handle this with her.

Maybe I should have considered this before I took the step that I did with her last night, but there were far too many emotions coursing through me at the time. From this point forward, I needed to be smart.

I needed to demonstrate to Layla that I intended to fight for her, that I wasn’t going to allow her to throw us out like we meant nothing. She was going to have to answer some tough questions, because I wasn’t going to settle for anything less.

And she couldn’t claim there was nothing between us after the way things went down last night. It was time for some honesty and transparency.

I finished in the shower, noted the time, and sent a text off to Cooper. Before I could do anything about my situation with Layla, I had to make sure things were handled at the amusement park. I didn’t think my brother would have any issues with covering for me.

While I waited for him to respond with an answer about where I could find him this morning, I moved to the kitchen and grabbed myself some breakfast.

As I ate, visions of my night with Layla flashed through my mind. I wondered if it had meant anywhere near the same to her as it had to me. I didn’t even have toconcentrate that hard to still hear her moans or recall the way it felt to have her fingers touching my skin again.

She was the only woman I’d ever been with, and sinking myself between her legs again had been an unforgettable experience. I took my time with her, refusing to pretend that it was just about sex. No matter what I’d said to her or how it might have appeared on her end, being with Layla was about so much more than that physical connection. I’d thought she felt the same, but given that she’d disappeared after I’d fallen asleep and hadn’t even given me the courtesy of a note, I questioned just how much she actually cared.

By the time I’d finished breakfast, Cooper had gotten back to me and mentioned he was going to be working on a broken machine in the chocolate factory, so I left my suite and hopped on the elevator.

While I was going to have to give Cooper some details about what had happened last night, I had hoped he’d be the only one until I had the opportunity to talk to Layla. Unfortunately, no sooner had I stepped off the elevator and walked toward the hotel entrance, I saw my sister.

Ivy’s eyes locked on mine, and she didn’t hesitate to wave me over to her.

Layla had mentioned Ivy was supposed to be meeting her in the bar last night. That’s probably what this was about.