“I love you,” I say.
He steps close enough that his forehead almost grazes mine, breath warm and shaky.
“I love you, too,” he says, voice rough, reverent, as if the words are the most sacred thing he’s ever spoken. “I love you more than I know what to do with.”
Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I blink them away. If I cry now, he won’t let me leave, or worse, I won’t let myself. I reach behind me and close my hand around the doorknob.
“Go take that shower,” I murmur. “Show up to PR like a man who has his shit together.”
His laugh is soft but full of something aching. “Only if you promise to text me when you get there.”
“I will,” I say again, even though it feels like a vow carved into something deeper than promises.
I step into the hallway, but before I pull the doorclosed, he calls my name one last time, and I look back. His eyes hold everything—fear, hope, longing, love—all of it shining through the cracks of the man who’s trying so damn hard to stay strong for me when he can’t do a thing to stop what’s coming.
“I love you,” he says again, quieter this time, like he’s giving me something to hold on to while I walk straight into the wolves.
“I love you, too.”
The words hang between us as I close the door, not because I want to, but because I have to.
They will devour me today, and I’ll still choose him tomorrow.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kyle
The door closes with a barely audible click, but somehow, it rearranges the entire room. Everything inside me goes still in that stunned, aching way that happens after you take a hit you didn’t see coming. My body feels suspended as if someone pressed pause on my bloodstream while everything else keeps spinning.
I stare at the door like I’m waiting for it to open again. Maybe she’ll come back and let me pull her into my arms and kiss the fear out of her before she walks into a building that has never once protected her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t come back, and I’m not sure whether it’s courage or heartbreak that makes my knees weak.
The condo is so quiet, I swear I can hear my heartbeat ricocheting off the walls. I drag a shaky hand through my hair, trying to steady myself, but keep catching flashes of the last five minutes. Her hand tightening on the doorknob as she flashes me a brave smile, splitting me wide open by saying,“I’d still choose you.”I'll never forget her eyes, shining with fear, love, and resignation all tangled together.
My chest clenches so hard I have to shift my stance to breathe through it. She didn’t just leave; I let her walk out the door toward her execution. And she did it with her chin lifted because she believes that choosing me is worth the bruises the world is about to give her.
I brace my hands on the edge of the counter and bow my head, letting out a shaky exhale that does nothing to relieve the pressure building behind my ribs. There’s no amount of time on the ice that could numb the burn of watching her make that kind of choice. My phone buzzes, and I ignore it for a few seconds because I already know the trouble that is waiting for me when I pick it up. I exhale slowly, steadying myself in the quiet before the blow lands, then grab the phone anyway.
Annoying Big Brother (2 missed calls)
Annoying Big Brother
Call me now. It’s about Alycia.
My pulse leaps so hard I feel it in the base of my throat as I swipe my thumb across Cooper’s name and lift the phone to my ear, every muscle in my body tightening like I’m preparing for a hit I can’t dodge.
He answers so quickly it’s clear he’s been waiting. “Kyle?”
“What happened?” I manage, though my voice is already fraying around the edges.
Cooper exhales slowly, the sound heavy enough totell me this isn’t something he wanted to be the one to say. “She’s… Kyle, she’s drafting a statement.”
The world doesn’t just stop; it plunges. And I'm free-falling through something cold, merciless, and too damn familiar. For a long second, all I can do is force a breath through my lungs. “What kind of statement?”
“The kind that protects you,” Cooper says, voice tight. “The kind that admits the relationship was faked and accepts responsibility for it going too far. She didn’t wait for the meeting this morning. She went straight to Janine and said it should come from her.”
He pauses then, and I swear the silence makes the entire room colder.
“Said it should be her,” he repeats, almost inaudibly.
