I stand there for a moment, trying to force myself to breathe, to push through the thick weight building inside me, and then I hear it.Footsteps.Soft, tentative, like she’s not sure if she should approach.
I turn to face her, and everything inside me fucking stops.
Her hair.
It’s black.
The way it used to be.
The way I remember it before everything burned to the ground.
She’s standing there, looking at me with those eyes I used to get lost in, and I swear to God—I’ve stepped back in time.For a second, the years fall away.The girl I loved, so fiercely, so hopelessly, is standing in front of me again.
The rush of memories floods, uninvited, and I can’t stop staring at her.I’m that dumb, lovesick kid again.She’s that girl burning with fire, pulsing with life, and I’m reminded of the girl who could tear me apart with nothing but a single look.
I swallow hard, fighting the emotions clawing at my throat.The ache in my chest is brutal.She shouldn’t affect me this way.I was trained to shut these feelings down.To kill them before anything could grow.Love… Love is weakness.A crack in the armor.My father taught me it was useless—just another way to lose control in a world where control is everything.
But she makes me feel shit I swore I buried.She’s the girl I lost… the one I never really let go of.And fuck, I hate how much it hurts to feel that pull again.Familiar.Unforgiving.Like no time passed at all.
Chapter Six
Emery
There’ssomethinginhisgaze.Something that throws me off, something that makes my heart stutter in my chest, but I can’t place it.
I’m not sure what I’m seeing.It’s too… soft, too unexpected.His eyes, those same eyes that once held nothing but coldness and rage, are different now.I don’t know if it’s just a trick of the light, or if I’m imagining it, but I swear I see something else there.
Something that looks a lot like…tenderness?
I refuse to believe it.
But the way he’s looking at me, as if I’m not just a pawn or another name on a list… as if I matter, is messing with my head.It twists what I thought I understood, stirs up things I have no business wanting.
He swallows, before his eyes slip away from mine, as if he’s shaking off whatever the fuck that was.
Then, without looking at me, he grunts, “Do you want a drink?Because right now, I fucking need one.”
He doesn’t wait for an answer.Just turns and crosses the room, each movement is loaded with something he’s not saying.
I watch him go, trying to keep my thoughts in check, but it’s impossible.Because it’s not just the space he’s putting between us, it’s something deeper.
He heads straight for the bar, fingers ghosting over the bottles with a familiarity that says he’s done this more times than he’ll ever admit.The soft clink of glass against glass cuts through as he pours the drink.His eyes stay locked on the liquor, not on me, as if it’s the only thing worth his attention anymore.
I can’t stop watching him.The way his jaw tightens with every move, how the tension coils through his shoulders like it’s fused to his spine.He’s doing exactly what I’ve been doing all night.Trying to drown it.Whatever the fuck this is between us.But with every sip, every breath, he’s just feeding it.He’s giving it room to breathe, to burn, to bloom in the silence.
He fills the glass again and throws it back without a second thought.Then his fingers tighten around the bottle, knuckles white, jaw clenched, as he pours another, chasing the silence he can’t seem to find.The war inside him stays unnamed, but it’s there, clawing just beneath the surface.
He grabs the bottle of wine and uncorks it in one smooth motion.He pours with steady hands, the wine cascading into the glass, dark and smooth, swirling like blood in water.
Once the glass is full, he lifts it and walks toward me.
He stops in front of me, holds it out without a word, no gesture, no warmth.Just his eyes on mine.That calculating stare that strips me bare and leaves the air thick with something I can’t name.
“Drink,” he commands, his voice rough.
He doesn’t move.Just stands there, watching, eyes fixed on mine, unblinking, as if missing a moment would cost him something.
I raise the glass to my lips, and his stare hits me hard, a weight that’s impossible to ignore.
