“So Darren, the thing that everybody’s talking about,” the host said on the screen, “that kiss went viral. Was it real? Is there something happening between you andThe Bonds of Lightauthor Emma Whitehart?”
She held her breath.
Darren’s face stayed composed. She leaned in, searching for the smallest fracture—any sign that he might be hurting too.
There was nothing.
“Things have gotten blown out of proportion,” he said lightly. “I’d rather not get into that. But Emma is brilliant, and I wish her nothing but the best.”
Something cracked in her at the words, a clean, merciless break. She pressed her hands hard against her chest, as if she could hold the pieces in place. This was worse than cruelty. It was...polite. Final. Like whatever they’d had was over far too soon—before it had even begun.
No. Not like this. A few hours ago, they’d had something.Beensomething. That couldn’t just be gone.
She went back to her messages, staring at her last one. Unanswered, blue, unforgiving.
Can we talk?she typed again, hitting send this time.
Not enough. Too weak. Too careful.
Fingers trembling, she hit call.
The signals rang. Sharp, unrelenting. Part of her prayed he wouldn’t pick up. That would mean she’d done all she could, wouldn’t it? That it was out of her hands and she could pretend to move on, try to forget what this could have...
A click on the other end. Her heart leapt, half expecting the voicemail.
“Emma.” Darren sounded tired, worn at the edges. Not angry. Just...distant.
Relief tangled with panic in her throat. “Hi. Um. I wasn’t sure you’d answer.” The words came out strained.
“I wasn’t sure I should.”
He sounded halfway gone already. Her pulse roared in her ears.
Fix this. Fix this. Fix this.
“Look, I...I didn’t mean what I said before. I was just—” She let out a brittle laugh. “You know. Tired. Overwhelmed. And then that interview—I panicked. I shouldn’t have—”
Darren sighed on the other end. “It’s fine. I’m not mad, Emma. I’m just...done trying to prove something I thought you already knew.”
She exhaled. “That’s not fair. I didn’t—”
“I just think we see things quite differently.” His tone cut clean through the line. “Maybe safe is what you want. That’s not me.”
Her lips parted, the truth poised—I don’t care about safe; I want you.But pride and fear strangled the words before they could leave her mouth.
A pause. Long enough for her to feel him slipping away.
“You know what, never mind,” Darren said, finality in his voice. “I have to go. Max is waiting.”
The call ended.
Emma sat stunned on the bed, the phone a dead weight in her palm. Every nerve screamed at the loss she’d carved with her own hands.
The hollow inside her widened, threatening to drag her under.
And she had nothing left to hold on to.
Chapter 40
