Ethan gave a small nod and started to walk away, then hesitated and turned back. “I hear you really went to bat for me with my father,” he said. “He said you’re the reason he showed up today.”
“I just wanted the two of you to make things right,” Priya said, her throat thick with emotion.
Ethan studied her for a moment, his expression unreadable. “Thank you,” he said, his eyes dropping to the pendant around her neck. For a fraction of a second, his expression softened. Just long enough for her to see the man she loved, to see that maybe this wasn’t easy for him either.
“Goodbye, Priya Solanki,” he said.
Priya’s chest tightened. This was where she was supposed to meet his goodbye with her own, to say the words that would bring them closure. But her voice failed her. So, she stood silently, her heart hammering in protest.
As Ethan turned to leave, something snapped inside Priya. This wasn’t how their story ended. Not with a hollow goodbye that felt like hammering the last nail in a coffin.
She reached for him without thinking, her fingers curling around his wrist. Ethan looked down at their hands, then back up to her face.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Priya pulled him toward her, heart pounding wildly, not giving herself the chance to hesitate. She saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes, and before he could react, she rose onto her toes, fingers sliding into the collar of his jacket, and kissed him.
The world exploded in a burst of flashing lights.
Ethan went completely still, his hands hovering at her sides. Priya knew that he didn’t owe her anything. Not forgiveness. Not love. Not even a reaction.
But that wasn’t why she kissed him. She kissed him because she wanted him to know that she was done hiding. Because, for the first time in her life, she was brave enough to love out loud, in vivid, breathtaking Technicolor.
Even if he rejected her. Even if he walked away.
Because loving Ethan Knight had been the truest thing she had ever done. And if she was going to lose him forever, she wanted him to feel it, to know that he had been loved. Recklessly. Entirely. Unconditionally.
She pulled away, breathless. But Ethan still didn’t react. Didn’t blink. Didn’t swallow.
The moment stretched impossibly long.
Priya took a step back.Nowshe could say goodbye.
But then Ethan moved. His hand curled around her waist, the other tilting her chin for a kiss that stole the air from her lungs. It was hungry and desperate and punishing, like he had been waiting for this moment all along. His mouth moved against hers with a heat that chased every rational thought from her mind. It was fire and longing, frustration and surrender all at once.
Priya clung to his jacket, feeling the thud of his heartbeat. He kissed her like he had something to prove, like he needed her tounderstand just how much she had wrecked him. And god, she did. Because she felt the same.
Around them, shutters clicked in rapid succession, voices murmuring in shock, excitement, disbelief. Someone let out a loud whistle, setting off a ripple of whoops and catcalls. It all blurred into the background. Priya didn’t care. Kissing Ethan in front of the whole world felt like a beautiful surrender, like leaping off a cliff and finally remembering how to fly. She was breathless, buzzing, invincible.
Until a sharp sting shot through her.
Startled, she broke away from Ethan, and spotted Sir Puffington halfway out of the tote hanging from her shoulder—tiny teeth clamped onto her sweatshirt as he nipped on her arm.
“Shoot, I forgot all about him!” Priya exclaimed.
Ethan reached over and pried him loose. “Alright, tiny terror,” he scolded, lifting the kitten into his arms. “That’s my girl you’re chomping on.”
Priya laughed, rubbing her arm. “At least he’s sticking close to me. Brooke would have my head if I lost him again.”
“She’d have to go through me first,” Ethan said, adjusting his hold on Sir Puffington.
Priya’s heart skipped. There it was—that feeling again—that electric, terrifying, thrilling feeling, as if their lives had snapped back into place. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. What mattered was that she’d taken a leap, and instead of walking away, Ethan had caught her. And now, all she wanted was to hold on to this beautiful, unexpected moment.
But the world had other plans. The press clamored for attention, each reporter shouting over the other.
“Ethan, Priya! Just one shot!”
“To your right. Over here!”
