The Game Where I Lost My Last Finger And Him Chapter 06

The Game Where I Lost My Last Finger And Him Chapter 06

It was the phone case I had given him. 

Printed on the back were two little figures holding hands as they walked through the snow. 

He had used it until the design faded, but he had never replaced it. 

“She went to South Coast University?” 

Ethan raised his eyes to the neighbor, his voice tight. 

“Ma’am, she… didn’t she say she was going to Northbridge? How could she…” 

“Yes, Audrey got into South Coast University. Her acceptance letter already came.” 

“She left for a trip a couple of days ago. She said she wanted to go to Lake Tahoe and clear her head.” 

South Coast University. 

The South. 

She had really gone south. 

He had once said he hated the South because he hated heat and humidity. 

So she had chosen that place, the farthest one from him. 

He waited until dark. 

The motion–sensor light in the hallway flicked on and off, then on again. 

Finally, Audrey’s father came home. 

Chapter 6 

“Mr. Bennett.” 

Ethan hurried forward. 

“I’ve been waiting all afternoon. Mr. Bennett, did Audrey… did she really go to South Coast?” 

Mr. Bennett sighed and took out his keys. 

“Come in for a minute.” 

Ethan followed him inside. 

The apartment was very quiet. 

On the shoe cabinet sat a framed photo from Audrey’s eighth birthday. 

She was wearing a paper crown, smiling so wide that the two gaps in her front teeth showed. 

Ethan stood beside her in the photo, holding the first slice of cake she had cut for him, his face smeared with frosting. 

Mr. Bennett’s gaze settled on him, calm but sharp. 

“Audrey has always kept things bottled up. Ever since she was little, she never liked telling people when something hurt. If she didn’t say anything, I didn’t ask. But the night she left, her eyes were swollen.” 

Ethan’s fingers curled tight. 

“I know I shouldn’t get involved in things between young people.” 

Mr. Bennett took a sip of water. 

“But Audrey lost her mother early. That child grew up starved for love. If someone treats her even a little well, she gives 

them her whole heart. If you…” 

He paused. 

“If you aren’t serious about her, then stop pulling her back 

in.” 

“I am serious,” Ethan said, his voice hoarse. 

Mr. Bennett did not respond. 

He stood, took a slip of paper from a drawer, and handed it to 

him. 

“She’s in Lake Tahoe, staying at this inn. She told me she 

wanted to clear her head.” 

Ethan took the paper, his fingers trembling slightly. 

“Thank you, Mr. Bennett.” 

He turned to leave, but Mr. Bennett called after him. 

“Ethan.” 

“Yeah?” 

“If she… doesn’t want to see you, don’t force her.” 

Ethan’s grip tightened around the slip of paper. 

He gave no answer. 

He opened the door and walked out. 

The breeze in Lake Tahoe was soft. 

I sat on the terrace of the inn, watching the lake shift from blue–green to gold, then from gold to deep navy. 

I had already been here for three days. 

Every morning, I woke early to watch the sunrise. 

During the day, I rented an e–bike and rode along the lake. 

At night, I drank and chatted with the other guests at the inn. 

There was an older woman from California who had taken a 

particular liking to me. 

She held my hand and asked, “Sweetheart, are you traveling all by yourself? Do you have a boyfriend?” 

I smiled and shook my head. 

“Then let me introduce you to someone. My son is in college too, and he’s such a good boy.” 

The people beside us burst out laughing, and I laughed with 

them. 

There were more than a dozen messages on my phone, all 

from Ethan. 

I did not open a single one. 

The signal here came and went, so I tossed my phone onto the nightstand, changed into a floral dress, and stepped barefoot 

onto the grass. 

In the distance stood the Sierra Nevada, its peaks capped with 

snow. 

I took a deep breath. 

The air smelled of lake mist, flowers, and freedom. 

It felt so good. 

A world without Ethan felt so good. 

When Ethan found the inn, I was in the courtyard helping the 

owner water the flowers. 

I was wearing a pale green dress, my hair tied up loosely.