She couldn’t.
Not because she was cold.
Not because she was ignoring me.
Not because she was stubborn.
Because her body, her mind, didn’t let her. And what the fuck did I do?
I made it worse.
Every word I threw at her, every time I cornered her, every fucking look, every name, I pressed on a wound I didn’t even see.
Jennie kept going, like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb in my chest. “She’s honestly the sweetest. She blushed at literallyeverythingI said.” Jennie giggled, kicking her feet a little. “She’s so easy to adore. Just… you look at her, and you want to protect her, you know?”
Her voice was light, casual, but every word felt like a knife turning in my ribs. Protect her.
Adore her.
Keep her safe.
Fuck. I’d done the opposite.
I’d taken a girl who already lived in silence and pressed her deeper into it.
I thought she was ignoring me, thought she was too good to speak, too delicate, too quiet. I called her fragile as if it were an insult. I thought breaking her walls would make her bend to me.
But she wasn’t choosing silence. Shecouldn’tspeak. And all I did was add more reasons for her body to lock her up.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, dragging my hands down my face until my skin burned.
If she ever hated me, I deserved it. But I couldn’t stop.
I couldn’t fucking stop.
Jennie was still talking, bright and bubbly, painting Aurora as if she were sunlight itself. Alex muttered something about colours, about the painting, about whatever, but it all blurred into static. My ears rang. My chest was heavy.
Every word Jennie spoke felt like she was peeling back another layer of Aurora I hadn’t been allowed to touch. And I couldn’t—couldn’t—hear it anymore.
I shoved off the couch, grabbing my jacket off the armrest.
“Where the hell are you going?” Alex asked, not even looking up from his canvas.
“Out,” I clipped, voice rough.
Jennie’s brush froze mid-stroke. “Joshua?”
I didn’t look at her. Didn’t look at either of them. If I stayed, I’d hear more about Aurora’s blushes, her little smiles, how she trustedthem.Not me. Never me.
The door clicked shut behind me, the sound echoing through Alex’s penthouse as I stormed down the hall.
It was wrecking me. Completely.
Chapter Fourteen
Aurora / Joshua
Aurora
