Smoke gives me a sad, tired smile. “Sleep it off, Pres. You’ll sort it out in the morning.”
I drop onto the bed and stare at the ceiling, my heart thudding like I’ve been stabbed clean through.
But even through the haze of alcohol, one thing is clear.
This won’t be fixed in the morning.
EDEN
Things between Kade and me have reached a standstill. A cold, heavy silence neither of us knows how to thaw.
Days have passed. Days of avoiding him, of slipping out of rooms when he walks in, of pretending I don’t hear his footsteps in the hall.
I’m furious at him. The accusations. The shouting. The way he made my heart feel small when I needed him to hold it steady.
And Jet… God, Jet. The moment I argued with him, he turned to a club girl. My friend. That betrayal stings deeper than I want to admit.
On top of that, the doctor was right, the memories have begun to drip back, slow and jagged, like broken glass cutting through fog. Not clear, not whole, but enough.
I remember the weight pressing me down. The panic. The wrong smell. The roughness. The fear. I remember not being able to move.
And the doctor’s words keep echoing in my mind. The internal bruising she found was consistent with an assault. Not a drunken fall. Not a mistake. Not something I imagined.
Martha took photographs of the bruises on my arms and ribs, just in case. They’re fading now, but the ones in my mind feel permanent.
I climb onto the roof of the clubhouse because it’s the only place that feels untouched by all this. From up here, Nottingham stretches out in every direction - lights, roads, rooftops. The world looks normal. Peaceful.
My world isn’t.
I hear the rusty door hinge creak. I don’t need to turn around to know it’s Kade.
His presence changes the air, making it heavier. He steps closer, but not too close, as though whatever I have is catching. Or maybe it’s just in my head.
“Do you need a jacket?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head. He hesitates, then says, “When I couldn’t see you at the dinner table, I panicked.”
I swallow hard, keeping my eyes on the skyline.
He panicked?
I’ve been living inside panic for days, drowning in it, while he got drunk and tried to stumble into Jet’s arms.
“I don’t feel hungry,” I mutter.
“Me either,” Kade says quietly.
He walks toward the edge of the roof, stopping dangerously close to the drop. Normally, I’d warn him. Tell him to step back. Tell him to stop tempting fate.
But today? Today, all I can do is watch.
Because for two days straight, the same thought has circled my mind like a vulture.What if I just let go? Would the fall feel like freedom? Would the noise in my head finally go silent?
I wrap my arms around myself, swallowing the thought before it takes shape again.
“I’m sorry,” he says eventually, voice low. “I should’ve handled everything better.”
“Okay,” I mumble.
