He looks like a man bracing for impact—jaw set, breath held, eyes sweeping every face like he could will mine back into existence.
And somehow…he finds me.
For one suspended second, our eyes lock across the rain-blurred chaos.
Everything in me screams to run toward him. Everything else screams to run away.
My throat closes. My hand tightens on the railing until my knuckles go white. My chest feels like it’s caving in.
He takes one instinctive step forward. Then stops, chest rising sharply like something inside him won’t let him break the distance.
His eyes never leave mine.
I blink hard. The rain makes it easier to pretend it’s just water on my cheeks.
Larisa calls my name from below. “Wren?”
I tear my gaze away and descend into the subway, the roar of trains rising to meet me.
As the wet concrete swallows the last of the marquee light, I feel it—the exact moment the thread between us snaps.
The train doors close. The subway lurches forward.
And I let him go.
35
BAD GUY (KIERAN)
Rain hits harder than it has any right to.
I stand at the top of the Radio City steps. Rain soaks through my coat, drips into my eyes, runs cold down my neck. My hands are numb. I don’t know if it’s the cold or the way my heart just stopped.
All I can do is watch her leave.
Wren on the subway stairs. Hand gripping the railing, marquee lights bleeding red and blue over her face.
She looks at me like she’d come back if her heart hadn’t learned not to.
I take a step toward her without thinking.
Stop.
Because what right do I have to close any distance after what I’ve done?
She blinks—rain or tears, I’ll never know—and turns away.
Down.
Into the underbelly of the city.
Out of my reach.
The subway swallows her, and I stand here in the rain, holding the weight of the mistake I’ve made.
I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here. Could be seconds. Could be hours.
A door opens behind me. Warm air spills out.
