I see flashes, not clear, not whole, but enough.A weight pressing me down. The panic. The dark.
Pain.
So much pain.
My throat closes, and suddenly I can’t breathe.
“Are you okay?” Liam asks, leaning closer, and the smell hits me full force.
It’s him. It was him. It had to be him.
My chair scrapes violently across the floor as I push back, legs trembling. I don’t answer. I can’t.
The restaurant spins as my fingers grip the edge of the table, and I squeeze my eyes closed just for a second, just to try and forget. It’s no good.
And so I run.
I shove through the exit, stumble onto the pavement, and drop to my knees just in time to vomit. A couple nearby jump aside with startled gasps.
“Sorry,” I whisper, wiping my mouth with a shaking hand, tears blurring everything.
“Shit, Queenie––are you okay?” Kade’s voice rushes in behind me, frantic.
I shake my head, clutching my stomach. “Can we go? I feel… I feel terrible.”
He doesn’t hesitate. He puts his jacket around me, his steady hands guiding me to my feet. I bury my face into his collar, breathing in that familiar woody scent until the world stops spinning.
“I’m sorry, Kade,” I whisper, my voice cracking.
He pulls me close, his arm firm and protective around my shoulders. “Don’t be silly. If you’re ill, you need to get home and rest.”
“No––” My fingers find his hand and cling. “I mean about everything.”
His brows pull together, confused and worried, but he squeezes my hand anyway.
And just like that, the truth settles in my chest—the only place I feel safe right now is with him.
KADE
Eden clings to me the entire ride home. I don’t question it. Don’t push. Don’t ask what’s changed. I just keep one hand on her knee and the other on the bars, drinking in the feeling ofher leaning against me again. After days of distance, it feels like finally—finally—we’re finding our way back.
The second we’re inside the bedroom, she pulls at my shirt, dragging me toward her like she can’t stand even an inch of space between us. She reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses me.
And relief hits me so hard I nearly stagger. She wants me.S he wants us.Maybe whatever’s been hanging between us is finally breaking.
She shrugs my kutte off my shoulders without breaking the kiss, her hands shaking slightly, but I barely notice because she’s here and she’s choosing me again.
Her urgency ignites something deep in my chest.
I guide her back toward the bed, lips still locked with hers, and when she sinks onto the mattress, I brace myself above her, taking my weight on my elbows so I can look into her eyes.
Those blue eyes I’ve missed. Those eyes that used to smile for me.
“I missed you, Queenie,” I whisper, brushing my lips over hers again, softer this time, as though I’m afraid she might vanish if I push too hard.
I run my fingers into her hair, gently tilting her head back so I can kiss my way along her cheek and down the side of her neck. Slow enough to savour, and careful enough to show her I’m not going anywhere.
And for a second, for one pure, blinding second, I let myself believe this is healing.
