I breathe out slowly.
We still love each other. That’s never been the question.
The question is: can love survive when it’s always squeezed into the gaps?
And can I learn how to reach for him again, not because I’m supposed to, not because it’s on a list, but because I want to feel chosen…
…before we drift so far that we forget how?
Ruby sighs on the monitor.
Dan shifts, still holding me.
For a moment, I let myself stay.
Not fixed.
Not saved.
Just… held.
And for now, that has to count as something.
CHAPTER TEN
EMMA
I wake up before the alarm
Dan’s arm is still around me.
For a second, I just lie there, feeling it. The weight. The warmth. The familiarity of his hand resting low on my stomach like it belongs there.
It used to.
He shifts slightly in his sleep and his fingers flex, almost unconsciously tightening against me.
My stomach flips as I imagine him sliding his hand lower.
There it is.
That spark.
I don’t think. I just move.
I turn slowly in his arms, sliding my leg over his, fitting myself into him the way we used to without even trying. His eyes blink open, confused at first.
“Morning,” he murmurs, voice rough with sleep.
I swallow.
He looks good like this. Hair messy. Stubble shadowing his jaw. The softness in his face before the day hardens it.
I brush my fingers lightly over his chest.
“Morning,” I say.
There’s a pause.
