All Chapters of Finding My Way Without You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

By the time I stumbled home following my phone's map, it was already the middle of the night.The wrong road Paxton Levis had directed me down ran past an abandoned factory.When I fell, a piece of exposed rebar tore into my ankle, close enough to punching straight through my foot.Blood dripped into the mud and onto the floor. I didn't even have the strength to change my shoes, just braced myself against the shoe cabinet and tried to catch my breath.My mother saw me and gasped.She rushed over to hold me up. "Cleo, what happened to you? Didn't Paxton say he was taking you on a road trip?"I looked down at the torn, curled-back skin on my ankle and told her everything, start to finish.The light in her eyes dimmed, little by little, replaced by disbelief."How could this happen?" she murmured."Before your high school finals, he used to take the long way on his bike every single day just so you wouldn't be late."And when you got lost in college, he was so panicked he almost

The blindfolds came off. Inside the escape room, only two weak flashlights lit the dark.Patricia let out a shriek and pressed herself straight into Paxton's arms."Paxton, I'm scared; you have to protect me."Paxton pulled her against his shoulder, laughing low."Such a baby, and yet you're the one who insisted on the horror theme.""I don't care! If you don't protect me, I'm never speaking to you again.""Fine, just stay close."They carried on like a couple head over heels, flirting shamelessly in the dark.The staff had only handed out two small flashlights. Paxton held one, Patricia held the other.I could only follow along by the scraps of light spilling from their hands, feeling my way one careful step at a time.The sharp ache in my ankle slowed me down."Can you two walk slower? My foot hurts.""There's a time limit on this room. You'll just have to push through it."At a fork in the path, they stopped.They glanced at each other, then switched off both flashligh

[I'll have someone take the trending post down in a few days. Quit making a scene about it.]Paxton's message had barely been sent before an exclamation mark popped up on the screen.He froze."Paxton, what's wrong?" Patricia leaned in close."Nothing. Cleo blocked me."Patricia sighed."Cleo is so petty. I already forgave her for smashing my camera. What's she still so worked up about?""Don't worry about her," Paxton said, his tone flat. "She's got zero sense of direction. She can't even find her way home without me. Give it a couple of days, once she's done throwing her fit, she'll come crawling back to me on her own."Back at the office, Paxton sat behind his mahogany desk.His secretary came in with his schedule."Mr. Levis, do you need a date arranged for tomorrow's dinner?""Have Patricia get ready for it.""Understood."His gaze drifted to the faded ceramic mug sitting at the corner of his desk."Mr. Levis, should I keep this old mug, or has it run its course?"F

I'd found part-time work at a café near where we lived.I was wiping down the espresso machine when the little bell over the door gave a bright chime."One Americano, no sugar."A voice rang out at the counter, one I knew far too well, low, even, and impossibly familiar.My hand froze on the machine for a second before I looked up.Paxton sighed, his tone weary."Cleo, you've made me search so hard for you."I set down the cloth and tapped a few keys on the register."Six pounds fifty. Card or cash?""Cleo, do you really have to keep this act up?"His voice stayed soft, almost indulgent, the way someone humors a runaway child."You can't even find your way around the streets back home, and you came all the way to Lorendon City to wait tables just to spite me? Isn't that a steep price to pay?"I picked up the barcode scanner by the register."There's a line behind you. If you're not ordering, please step aside."A flicker of displeasure crossed his eyes.He took out his c

The rain in Lorendon City finally stopped.Paxton had played two of his trump cards in a row.He'd destroyed Patricia. He'd taken down the Horstmann family's company.And all it had bought him was another block from Cleo.It completely defied every bit of logic he understood.In his version of the story, Cleo Horstmann was supposed to be the kind of woman who couldn't survive without him.She was supposed to break down in tears after receiving his gifts and beg him to take her home."Mr. Levis, your wine."A waiter set down a glass.Paxton lifted the glass but didn't drink.He kept thinking about yesterday, in that café, the flat, indifferent way Cleo had recited "six pounds fifty" to him.No hurt. No resentment.Just the kind of calm you'd show a stranger.That calm unsettled him in a way he'd never felt before.Just then, a commotion broke out at the restaurant entrance.A woman in a khaki trench coat shoved past the waiter and stormed in."Paxton!"Patricia's hair w