Free Cheyenne by Lisa L Wiedmeier Page A

me. I was just a job…
    “ You were working with them?”
    “ Yes.”
    I turned and looked at Colt again, desperately trying to maintain my composure. “So over the last two years, you’ve been around protecting me. My parents invited you along on trips and dinners so you could be close.” These were the facts. My lips began to tremble, as anger boiled in my chest. “I shared secrets and feelings with you that no one else knew, and for what? So you could pretend to know me? Figure things out about me for your job? Deceive and lie to me? You screwed with my feelings, made me confused…just for the fun of it?!”
    Something inside me gave way, and the tears began to stream down my cheeks. All these months he’d played with my heart, with every touch, every word. “How could you!”
    Colt extended his arm to touch my shoulder. I knew he was trying to comfort me. After all, that’s what he was good at; that’s what he’d been doing for the last two years. Making sure I was safe and had a shoulder to cry on. I should’ve seen it sooner, all those long walks in the woods, going to movies, just hanging out together. He was pretending to be my friend. My best friend. I pulled away and rose from the couch.
    “ Cheyenne.” Colt reached for my hand, but I stepped out of reach.
    I didn’t want to hear anything more. Not now. I was wounded; a piece of my heart suddenly torn apart. I was just a job for him. The friendship, the feelings I had for him, all a lie. He wasn’t who I thought he was. It was just too complicated to process now.
    Sniffling and wiping the tears from my cheeks, I stopped just inside the hallway. I didn’t turn around. “Callon, am I allowed to leave?”
    “ No.” His tone was softer, as if to apologize for his gruffness before.
    “ So I’m being held against my will?”
    “ It’s for your own safety,” he said but that didn’t make me feel better.
    “ I see.”
    Daniel suddenly appeared at my side with my bag in hand. It was if he knew I was looking for an escape. We continued down the hallway to a bedroom. He departed leaving my bag near the door while I stood in the far corner, staring out into the forest through the open windows, my thoughts pooling together. I’d been hospitalized, followed, tricked and lied to, and now I was with people I didn’t know, who were curbing my liberties. Since when had Colt or Callon become my dad? How had this spiraled downhill so quickly?
    Dusk arrived, and with it a chill in the air, which made me shiver. I wrapped my arms around my chest, but I couldn’t ease the pain of my aching heart. Another loss in my life. Colt was the one who pulled me through my parents’ death. I’d thought losing my parents was the worst pain imaginable, but losing Colt—my strength, my friend—I was hurting more than I thought possible. Who could pull me through the loss of my best friend?
    I didn’t bother to close the bedroom door; I didn’t think it mattered at this point. I was being watched; I wasn’t allowed to leave. A door wouldn’t stop them. I was a bird in a cage, wings clipped.
    Heavy footsteps stopped at the doorway. I continued to stare out the window. They continued until they were directly behind; it was Colt. His breath touched my head; the heat from his body warmed my back. More tears spilled, and I gritted my teeth to stifle my sobs. He was hesitating. We stood like this for what seemed forever before he finally broke the silence.
    “ Cheyenne, I’m so sorry.” His voice was soft, gentle, sincere. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I want you to know it’s not like that for me. It never has been. Each and every moment I’ve spent with you has been a blessing, and with each passing moment I’ve loved you more and more.”
    He loves me?   I inhaled a shaky breath. I didn’t want to hear this now. Not when my heart was being pulled in all directions.
    “ I’m not with you because it’s my job; I’m with you because I couldn’t live with