He stares at me like I’m a mirage that might disappear if he blinks too long.
Then the captain calls for him.
He doesn’t move.
For a beat, it feels like he might say something—anything—something dangerous and cracking and years overdue.
But he only whispers:
“You look different.”
“So do you.”
Something flickers in his eyes. Something hot and pained and full of things neither of us is ready for.
Before he can speak again, Captain Cole shouts, “Ramirez! Let’s move!”
Axel tears his eyes from mine like it physically hurts.
“Be right there,” he calls back, voice strained.
He swallows once, hard.
Then takes a single step backward—just one—like distance is the only thing keeping him from breaking.
He turns away.
But at the last second, he glances over his shoulder.
And that look—raw, undone, stunned—is enough to make my breath vanish.
He disappears into the bay.
I stand frozen.
The storm winds outside roar louder. Snow hammers the roof. Voices echo in the distance.
But all I hear is the pounding of my own heart.
All I feel is the ghost of a boy I once loved… trapped inside the body of the man he became.
He didn’t say a word about the past.
Neither did I.
But both of us felt it.
Every ember.
Every burn.
Every memory we tried to bury.
And if the way he looked at me is any indication…
Those ashes are about to ignite.
Chapter Two
