“No, Luna. I haven’t changed anyone’s life.” He stepped closer, eyes still locked on mine. “What I just saw? That wasspecial.”
Before I could say a word, he leaned in and kissed me.
No—claimedme.
He gripped the back of my neck with one hand and curled the other around my waist, drawing me tight against his chest.
“You’re more than magnetic, Luna. You’re gravity,” he whispered.
Heat licked up my spine, and I laughed softly, shaking my head as I curled my fingers into the collar of his jacket. “God, you’re dangerously good at this.”
He grinned and kissed me again, slower this time. The world around us, the vendors, crowds, holiday chaos—it allfaded.
For the first time in forever, I didn’t feel scattered. I felt held. We pulled away from each other…reluctantly.
“The first time someone recognized me, I was out with Will at one of his games,” I said, my gloved fingers brushing against Dirks’s as we walked.
He nodded, listening quietly as the cold wind stung the tip of my nose and turned my cheeks pink.
“He didn’t yell or anything. Just... made this face like it made him uncomfortable. The more popular I got, the more he hated it. Hated that people noticedmemore than him.”
Dirks glanced at me, brow creased.
“He wasn’t cruel,” I added quickly. “Not outwardly, but he wasn’t proud. It was like my success annoyed him.”
“You don’t talk about him. Aside from the breakup. That’s it.”
I nodded slowly, eyes focused on the crowd ahead. “There’s a lot I don’t talk about,” I admitted.
We’d reached the edge of the market, the street quieter here. He stopped walking, turned to face me fully, that damn basket still in one hand.
“Why, Lune?” he asked gently. “Tell me.”
I looked up at him, and for a moment, I didn’t say anything.
How could I explain that I was a ship full of sealed-off compartments, full of things that weren’t only mine to carry?
That Jeremy and I were more than just lovers—we were foster siblings.
That Nova was here.
That she had Scarlette now.
That there were things I’d endured when I was too young to understand them, things that shaped who I became. That staying silent was how I survived. How I protected people. How I learned to protectmyself.
“That’s how I grew up. Holding things close. Locking them down. Not out of pride or to push people away... but because sometimes silence was the only control I had.” My throat tightened. “To be honest, it wasn’t until you—and... Jeremy—that I started to peel back those layers. Started to feel like Icould.Which is why when you called... it was so easy to come back.”
He rubbed his chin and nodded.
“It was so easy to stay, because I feel likemyselfwith you. I don’t have to perform. I don’t have to armor up. I can just...be.That’s rare for me. Really fucking rare.”
He dropped the basket gently and reached for me, hands sliding along my jaw, thumbs brushing just beneath my ears. He pressed his forehead to mine.
“I don’t need your secrets. I wantyou.However you show up. That’s enough for me.”
Eventually, my secrets would catch up to him—the ones I was protecting, the ones that weren’t even mine to tell. He might not need the details now, but one day, he’d feel the edges.
And they’d cut.
