Free Believing Lies by Rachel Everleigh Page A

for us. Wading out of the water, I was greeted by an irritated Sophie, her hands on her hips and her foot tapping.
    “Can we PLEASE go eat something now?” Oh yeah, she’s irritated .
    “Okay, okay, let’s eat. Where do you want to go? How about—”
    My words stopped forming when I looked over Sophie’s shoulder. She noticed the deer-in-the-headlights look on my face and spun around. Never in a million years would I have expected to see Trenton walking down the beach toward us. There was only one thing I could say at that exact moment in time. “Banana Hammock.”
    Sophie abruptly turned back and saw the trepidation written all over my face. “The Jeep’s all packed.”
    We both started to walk briskly to the parking lot, but Trenton simply adjusted his speed to a jog. “Sienna, wait!” he called out.
    I couldn’t avoid him forever. I was already planning on calling him tomorrow, so why not deal with this today instead? Sure, I hadn’t expected a public meeting, but it looked to be unavoidable at this point, so I stopped walking.
    Sophie back tracked a couple of steps to me. “Are you coming?” she cautiously asked.
    I shook my head. “Go on to the Jeep, please, but don’t leave. I’ll be there shortly,” I replied with a false calmness in my voice.
    “Are you sure?” She looked highly skeptical.
    She reluctantly honored my request and walked toward the Jeep.
    I closed my eyes. When I opened them, Trenton was in front of me. It looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days, and his eyes were dark underneath. Otherwise, he was as handsome as ever, dressed in his usual summer clothing of cargo shorts and a polo shirt. This one was dark blue, matching his eyes. Anguish struck me hard. The love I felt for him warred against the utter disgust I felt as I remembered the last time I saw him. He began to stroke the side of my cheek with a feather-light touch, as if he was afraid I would run. For a split second, the world felt right again.
    “Baby, I’m so sorry. Come home with me.” It wasn’t phrased as a question. He really believed I would just go with him. I recoiled from his touch. How could he think I would ever set foot in that bedroom again?
    “No. I’m not going with you,” I said without much conviction in my voice, my eyes lowered to the sand. I couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much.
    “Sienna, you’ve punished me long enough. I’ve learned my lesson, and I promise it’ll never happen again. You have my word.” I just stood there, speechless, averting his gaze by looking at the sand sticking to my wet feet. “I need you, baby. Please come home with me. We both know that you can’t stay at Sophie’s forever. We belong together, and we can still get married and put this behind us.”
    It was crystal clear to me now. A tiny part of me, which I had kept unacknowledged, even to myself, had thought I would still be marrying Trenton and that this would all go away as if it was a bad dream. Part of me was elated at the thought of him feeling the same. The rest of me knew with absolute certainty that my future would never be as his girlfriend, fiancée, or wife.
    Through my tear clouded eyes, I looked straight into his. “It’s over, Trenton. I’d like to come get my things tomorrow. I don’t want to make this harder than it needs to be on either of us, so will you please stay out of the apartment while I’m there? I can leave the key on the counter.”
    “You don’t mean that. I love you, Sienna.” A hint of panic tinged his voice. “We can figure this out together.”
    “There’s nothing to figure out. I’m sorry.” I stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodbye, Trenton.”
    He pulled me to him and smashed his lips to mine. Stunned, I didn’t pull away. I closed my eyes and, for a tiny moment, allowed myself to pretend all of the pain and heartache was erased. But the moment quickly passed, and I pushed myself away from him. Seeing the hurt on his face, as I backed a