Page 67 of Wrong Cabin, Right Time
I study her face for a while. She’s smiling, but the happiness she’s projecting to the camera doesn’t reach her eyes. I can see right throughit, just like I can see through her. She’s sad. I don’t have to wonder for long to know why.
What confuses me most is that the more I stare at her, the more the ache in my chest grows. I don’t understand why I feel this way. While she was here, we had some good times, as well as some bad. Yet she was nothing but a hindrance to me. With the exception of Eli, she threw a wrench in every plan that I had. She treated my routine as if it was a joke, and she tried to manipulate me into doing what she wanted me to.
I had to let her go. If I didn’t, both of us would have been at risk. I couldn’t let her interfere with my life, and she couldn’t change me into who she wanted. It was a recipe for disaster.
I don’t understand why my body is betraying me. I shouldn’t feel upset that she’s gone. I should be happy, and I should be relieved. I didn’t make myself this way—I was born this way, and I’m only giving myself what I need again. That’s why she’s gone. And I should have peace, but I don’t.
My alarm on my watch beeps again, and I jump in my chair. I’ve completely lost track of time staring at the picture of Sage, and now it’s time for my workout for the day.
She’s not even here and she’s fucking up my schedule. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to how things were.
Regardless, I try to gain control, and change into some athletic shorts. I hop on the treadmill and start running. Exercising has always been an incredible way for me to forget about all my struggles. Running is like a form of physical meditation, and the endorphins help reduce cortisol levels and, therefore, relieve stress.
Normally I can focus on my movements to ensure I’m maintaining a proper posture. My strides are strong and powerful, and I focus on the sensations in my body with every step I take. But right now all I’m thinking about is her.
Getting her to exercise with me was like getting a cat to go for a swim. She hated exercising. The last time she was in here with me, I ended up fucking her on the weight bench. The memory of that is atthe forefront of my mind, and I feel the blood rushing from my head to my cock.
I force that aside and take a few deep breaths to refocus my attention on the run. I focus on my arms as they move back and forth with each stride, my breathing as I try to level it, and my legs as I maintain the proper pace I need to effectively raise my heart rate.
For a couple of minutes, it feels good. The endorphins flooding my system as my heart starts to beat faster, just like I want it to. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I swear I see Sage in the mirror. I look, holding my breath as I keep moving on the treadmill, and realize she’s not actually there.
And just like that, all the work I’ve done to get her out of my mind during the workout was for nothing. She’s back in the forefront of my mind, walking around the treadmill and admiring my body as I move. The last time she watched me run, she threw popcorn at me like I was a zoo exhibit. Said she was “encouraging performance through live audience engagement.” I nearly tripped trying to dodge a kernel.
I can almost hear her voice as if she is actually around me. “I don’t like working out, but I do enjoy the show.”
No matter what I do to try to refocus, it doesn’t work. All I can think about is her, and the sex we had right here in the gym. My cock strains against my shorts, and I’m thankful they’re breathable—otherwise I’d possibly be in pain right now.
To try to forget about it, I push myself harder. I run faster at a steep incline and try to focus on my burning limbs and my ragged breaths. I push myself harder than I normally do in an exercise, but it doesn’t help.
“Fuck!” I shout as I slam my hands against the rail of the treadmill. It rattles before I grab hold of it and press the off switch.
I need to be able to focus, so I do what I have to and go back to my desk.
I pull up Sage’s Instagram account once again and stare at pictures of her in her bikinis, with the real smiles on her face. I pull my cockfrom my shorts and start slowly rubbing it while I look at her. I’m hard and throbbing just at the thought of her in the same room with me.
Images of her in my office with me flood my mind, and I picture her getting on her knees in front of me to take my cock in her mouth. I remember the way she would moan when I held her head against me. How she liked to tease me as much as she could.
When I open my eyes, I can almost see her in front of me, as if she had come all the way back here just to suck my cock. I can perfectly remember the way her mouth wraps around me, the warmth that envelops me when she takes me deep into her throat.
My cock throbs and stiffens as I think about her tongue tracing its way down my shaft. I wish she were here, so I could run my fingers through her pink hair and hold her down on me. I would give anything to feel her mouth one more time. It doesn’t take long for me to come, and the entire time all I think about is Sage swallowing every drop.
When I’m done, I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. Tomorrow is a new day. With any luck, I can forget all about Sage and continue with my plan to kill Nicole.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sage
“You can stop here,” I say as my Uber pulls up to the dirt road leading to Sunroot Commune—my childhood home. I spent the past few days in Asheville, but I still felt too close to Lake Lure. I had to get away far enough so that I wouldn’t get the stupid idea to drive to see a certain someone. There isn’t a lot of parking available, so the driver has to just let me off on the side of the road, and I’ll walk about a half mile to get to the actual commune nestled in the woods.
I grab my things from the trunk and wave to him to signal that he’s good to leave. As I hoist my bag onto my shoulder, the weight jerks me sideways, and I stumble into a patch of prickly brush. I yelp, swat at my shins, and do an awkward dance while trying to yank a burr from my sock without falling face-first into the sand. A squirrel watches with what I can only describe as judgment.
The sun is hot and already burning high in the sky, even though it’s not even noon. Of course, that’s to be expected on the hottest day of the year in South Florida.
My bags feel ten times heavier as I walk in the heat, and I can’t wait to get back to the compound so I can collapse in one of the cool eco cabins.
The compound is mostly off the grid, and because of that, all the cabins are made in harmony with the earth; they’re supposed to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but nothing can really fight off the Florida heat, so the cabins have solar-powered fans in them now.
About halfway to the commune, I spot a golf cart kicking up dust and dirt as it drives directly toward me. I squint and feel a small jolt of excitement in my chest when I spot my parents. They’re waving vigorously, with wide smiles on their faces. I stand where I am and wave back, thankful they took the initiative to pick me up. Walking the rest of the way would have been torture.
