“What happened afterward?” I ask, knowing bits and pieces butnever the full story. I know Matt had been arrested and released after a while.
Silas’s jaw tightens, and he points to the scar above his eyebrow. “My brothers and I found him after he got released. We gave him a beating he wouldn’t forget.”
The violence in his voice sent a chill down my spine. But I couldn't deny, for the first time back then, I had felt safe. Protected.
“What happened to him?” I ask cautiously.
“Matt’s a plumber now in some small town of about fifteen thousand people,” he says with a shrug, like it didn’t matter. “Michelle? She got pregnant a year after school ended. The guy she was with ran off and left her to raise the kid on her own. As for the others? I have no clue.”
I stare into my coffee cup, feeling the weight of the past settle heavily between us. “I’m sorry for my part in this,” I whisper.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he says, cutting me off. “It was mine. I should have known better. Michelle was unraveling, just like the others before her.”
A quiet settles between us. I know I had opened old wounds, but I can’t stop now.
“Can I ask you something?” Silas’s voice breaks through my thoughts, and his eyes meet mine, clear and direct.
I nod, bracing myself for what might come next.
Silas takes a deep breath of the sea air before exhaling slowly. “Have you ever regretted it?” he asks, his voice softer now.
I frown, unsure of what he means.
“Regretted saying no to my proposal,” he clarifies.
“Oh …” I murmur, understanding dawning. My cheeks flush, and I can feel the heat creeping up to my ears. I haven’t thought about that in so long, but now the memory rushes back, sharper than ever. “For years, I wondered what might have happened if I’d stayed,” I admit, my fingers tightening around the coffee cup.
“At first, because of how horribly that night turned out, I compared it to what felt like a perfect scenario—something that could’ve madeeverything right. But as I healed, I couldn’t stop wondering what would’ve really happened that night. If things had gone differently.”
Silas listens quietly, his gaze unwavering, giving me the space to finish my thoughts. But when he speaks, his voice is filled with a certainty that caught me off guard.
“I know exactly what would’ve happened.”
“Really?” I ask, unable to hide my curiosity.
He grins; his expression playful but undeniably sincere. “I would’ve taken you to my room and locked the door so no one could interrupt us. I would’ve undressed you, slowly. And kissed every inch of your skin, especially your shoulders.” His eyes sparkle as he adds, “I’ve always had a thing for your shoulders.”
His words send a shiver down my spine, the memory of his touch almost tangible in the space between us. My heart beats faster, and for a moment, I can’t tell if the warmth in my cheeks is from embarrassment or something far more dangerous. Silas lets out a small laugh, his fingers lightly brushing my left shoulder, sending a ripple of electricity through me.
“I would’ve kissed your breasts,” he continues, his voice low, intimate. “I would’ve told you how blind I was for not realizing sooner what you awakened in me, and while I was buried inside you, I’d have made you come at least four times. I’m sure you would’ve wanted to leave before dawn, but I would’ve begged you—on my knees—to stay, just once, before we had to face the real world, where we’d forget each other.”
His words hang in the air like a heavy, unspeakable truth. The vividness of his fantasy takes root in my mind—his lips against my skin, his hands pulling me closer, the door shutting us away from the world. He continues, his voice soft but unrelenting, “Maybe we would’ve ended up with other people, family, kids. The whole package. Maybe we would’ve been happy, but … even then, I think we’d still wonder about each other in our weakest moments. The question of ‘what might have been’ would linger forever.”
When he finishes speaking, a thick silence settles between us. I canfeel the weight of everything unsaid pressing down, almost as tangible as his touch.
His fantasy has become mine for those brief moments—I can practically feel him, his lips on my skin, the closeness of our bodies.
Without thinking, I lean forward, closing the distance between us, my lips finding his in a soft, lingering kiss.
Silas
With a slow, delicate movement, Lauren leans in until her lips brush against mine. It’s subtle, but it’s everything. Of all our kisses, this is the first time she’s initiated it, and that detail doesn’t go unnoticed. At first, I move cautiously, expecting her to pull away at any second. But when I feel her breath quicken, something in me snaps. I dive into her mouth with the hunger that’s been building since that first kiss at my place. I tilt my head, exploring every inch of her lips, savoring their softness, the electricitysparking between us with each touch. At some point, the coffee cup I held disappeared, forgotten. My hands find her waist, pulling her closer until she’s sitting on my lap, our bodies pressed tightly together. I’m addicted to her—her touch, her breath, her tongue. It’s all-consuming, and I don’t want to stop.
“Silas” she whispers softly against my mouth, her breath warm and tender. “We’re at your parents’ house.”
“Fuck my parents,” I growl, pulling her closer, my hands greedily gripping her waist. I don’t care who’s in the house, or if someone might walk in. I need her—now.She’s always been the priority, always the one I’ve waited for.
“Silas …” she tries again, her voice faltering under my touch.
