Any hope Noah had appears to leach from his face, replaced by something harder. More guarded. He takes a step back and his jaw is so tight the tendons in his neck are standing out. I feel the distance between us open like a chasm.
Panic rises in my chest.
"I told you from the start," I say, filling the silence with words I don't mean. "The kids would always come first. I can't promise you anything beyond what we already have. I need to protect my family. I can't afford to take risks."
"This isn't about the kids." Noah's voice is steady, but there's an edge of anger underneath. "The kids are fine. They want me around. Zoe already told you we should date. Matthew adores me. You know that."
He takes another step back, away from me, and I can see the hurt and frustration warring in his eyes.
"This is about you and what you feel for me." Noah crosses his arms and stares at me, unflinching and direct. "You need to decide now. Do you feel the same way about me that I feel about you?"
My wings snap tight against my back, and there's a painful knot in my throat that I have to push down.
"This, whatever this is, it's over." My words come out strangled. "It has to be. It's not fair to you, and it's not sustainable for me. I'm ending it before it gets worse."
Noah stares at me for a long moment, and I watch something break in his expression.
Then his voice drops, low and dangerous. "Was it ever more than sex for you?"
The question tears through me.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
I want to lie. I want to tell him it was just physical, that he was convenient, that I never felt anything real.
But the words won't come.
So I say nothing.
The silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating.
Noah's expression hardens. "Right."
I turn toward the door. My legs feel shaky, my wings trembling, but I force myself to move. I need to get out of this apartment before I break completely.
Noah's voice stops me. "If you walk out that door, it's done."
I freeze, my hand on the doorknob.
"I'm not doing this halfway," he says, his tone flat and final. "I'm not going to keep loving you in secret while you hold me at arm's length. If you leave, it's over."
My hand tightens on the cool metal of the doorknob.
Mitchell's voice bounces around in my head.
Frigid. Ice queen. No man would want you unless you paid him.
I hear myself say, barely above a whisper, "I know."
And then I open the door and walk out into the cool night air.
Behind me, the door clicks shut. Outside, the night is still and quiet.
Inside, I feel like I'm shattering into a million pieces.
And the worst part, the part that makes me want to scream, is that I did this to myself.
I pushed away the only man who ever made me feel whole.
