They stand face-to-face, eyes locked on each other. Something about his voice’s low warning tone and unyielding embrace makes my heart dip.
But I refuse to sit on the sidelines while others fight battles for me.
“You’ve already single-handedly destroyed everything I’ve worked toward. What else could you possibly want?” Stephen snaps out of his staring contest with Kai—something tells me Kai won—and peers at me. I register a softness in his ebony-eyed gaze I haven’t seen in years.
Years ago, we would’ve had a nice, long chat to work things out.
We’re past that.
Have you ever lost a friend? A real, true friend? I’ve lost many.
More often than not, friendships don’t end overnight. Instead, a plethora of minor hurdles can lead to a friendship’s demise.
The bond that was once fundamental to your existence—maybe crucial to your survival, even—simply fades into dust.
That wasn’t how my friendship with Stephen ended. Our friendshipdidend overnight, roughly a year ago. One evening, after a long day of work, he walked me to my haven in silence, which wasn’t normal for him. At the time, we’d been friends for years, but we hadn’t been hooking up for long. It’d only been a handful of weeks, and we promised each other feelings wouldn’t be involved.
“Everything okay?” I asked casually as we approached my door. He furrowed his brows and sighed.
“Mind if Icome in?”
“Sure.”
We stepped inside my quaint unit, then he crossed his arms. “I like you. I have for a while. Why don’t we give ourselves a fair shot? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to find happiness?”
Immediately upon hearing those words, I shut down. “No.”
“No?”
“No.” I shook my head and fixed my gaze on his leather shoes. “Sorry, Stephen. You deserve that, but you won’t find it with me.”
I couldn’t give him any further explanation at the time. I offered to stay friends, but he declined, emphasizing that staying close would be too hard. Even if I did want to go there with him, I couldn’t. Iwouldn’t.
From then on, we were colleagues in the Watchers division. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think he resents me for the choice I made, and in his resentment, he’s hardened his outer shell more and more ever since. He can’t understand how our situation didn’t lead me to fall for him in the way he started to fall for me. We still work together, so we’re mostly cordial, but lately, he’s held more anger in his gaze than ever—especially after Kai strolled into my life.
You’d think that over time, losing friends would grow easier, less painful. That simply isn’t the case.
“Walk away.” I press my lips into a straight line, holding his gaze and communicating with my eyes alone. He presses his tongue against his cheek and nods, then stomps away.
I don’t suppose I pity him. I pity the man he used to be. The old Stephen would be so disheartened to see himself now.
Filled with sufficient satisfaction and high on adrenaline, I spin toward Kai again, allowing my wings to unfurl. “Want to do something that will really get people talking?”
“Baby, everyone is already talking about you. Look around.” He nods his chin at the crowd gaping and gawking atus.
There’s that name again.
“Okay, fair. But how about a grand finale?” I beam. I haven’t been this giddy in literal decades. I’m addicted to the thrill of it.
“Let’s do it,” he answers, smiling widely and reaching for my waist again. He’s been touching meallnight, and I honestly haven’t hated it, which is yet another abnormality about my relationship with him. He’s too good at faking.
“Hold on tight.” I smile mischievously before tossing my ribbon aside and launching into the air at full speed, Kai holding my waist with a death grip.
“Holy mother of pearl, Cleo!” he shouts against the wind as we soar above the marketplace and head east. “Fuuuuck!”
I laugh uncontrollably as he clings to my waist for dear life.
