Chasing the Tide

Chapter Fiffteen: Cotton’s Fury

Cotton stormed off, his boots stomping against the hardwood floors before the front door slammed shut behind him. A second later, Lila heard the roar of his diesel truck as the tires squealed against the gravel, kicking up dust as he sped away.

She exhaled shakily, knowing this wasn’t the end. Cotton would be back. And Noah would be sorry.

Cassidy and Annie rushed to her side, their hands warm against her arms as they ushered her toward the bathroom. “Okay, you need a shower and a reset,” Cassidy declared. “That was a lot.”

“Yeah,” Annie added, grabbing a towel. “And then we’re ordering pizza and watching Legally Blonde because, girl, you need some serious girl time.”

Lila let them take over, too exhausted to fight it. Annie wasn’t leaving for L.A. for another three days, so for now, they could pretend things were okay. But in three days, she would be packing up and heading back home.

Back to chaos. Back to decisions she wasn’t ready to make.

Everyone around her was moving on, chasing dreams. And yet, Lila felt like she was unraveling, caught between a past she couldn’t escape and a future she didn’t know how to claim.