Ellie looked back at him, her eyes softer now.“You chose the club.”
“I did,” he said.“And I still stand by it.But I never stopped thinking about you.”
She didn’t say anything right away, but her fingers tapped a slow rhythm on the table’s edge.“That wasn’t the only reason I left, Dasher.”
“I know.”He lowered his voice.“But it was the biggest one.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy with what wasn’t said.
He leaned forward, elbows on the table.“You think I don’t remember what we were?Ellie, I can still hear your laugh when I ride.I still think about that night we got caught in the rain coming back from the coast.You made me pull over just so we could kiss in the storm.”
A blush crept up her neck.“We were reckless.”
“We were in love.”
Her eyes flashed.“We were young.”
“Still feels the same to me,” he said, voice rougher now.“You walk into a room and I forget how to breathe.”
Ellie swallowed, looking torn.“You don’t get to say things like that.”
“Why not?”Dasher demanded.
“Because I spent years patching myself back together after you,” she said.
His chest tightened.“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him, really looked at him, and something cracked in her expression.“You know what the worst part was?”she said.“It wasn’t losing you.It was still loving you after.”
Dasher didn’t say anything.He couldn’t.His throat was thick and his fists clenched in his lap.
“I thought seeing you again would be easier,” Ellie said softly.“But it’s not.You still feel like danger and comfort all wrapped into one.”
“I’d never hurt you,” he said.
“You already did.”
He winced.“I know.But I want to be better.”
She scoffed, standing.“You don’t just get to come back and rewrite the ending, Dash.”
He stood too, fast.“I’m not asking for that.”
“Then what are you asking for?”
He hesitated.Then, “A beginning.”
Ellie stared at him, breath caught.Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it.Her mother’s name on the screen.
“I have to go,” she said, voice tight.
He nodded.“Yeah.Of course.”
She stepped away, but stopped before reaching the door.Glanced back.
“You said it still feels the same,” she said, almost to herself.“I wish it didn’t.”
And then she was gone, the bell over the door jingling behind her.Dasher sat back down, heart hammering in his chest.Maybe he could’ve handled that better.
