“The Storm were playing the Dragons in the last game of the season, and despite an injury Lightning had been nursing for most of the year, she was ready to come out on top...”
Adhira’s brows lift, her lips twitching at the corners before she averts her gaze, cheeks flushing marginally.
I continue on, spinning tales of the faery who sounds an awful lot like Adhira, overcoming fears and obstacles to get what she wants from life.
“Through her strength and determination, Lightning got her team the win and lived happily ever after with her favourite, even slightly awkward, fae flatmate. The end,” I whisper, the last sentence barely audible as I rearrange the girls in Ellie’s bed, knowing there’s no chance Lyla would stay asleep if I carried her across the room to her own bed.
I grab my phone from the nightstand and hold a finger to my lips. Adhira returns the gesture with a small, sleepy-eyed nod. I manoeuvre around the room, picking up toys and plushies from the floor, quietly placing them in the basket by the door, and turning off the last of the lights before shutting the door behind me with a gentlesnick.
Silence greets me, and I collapse onto the sofa, my body thoroughly exhausted from how full-on the last few days have been.
“I’m still here. Don’t forget about me, princess,” Adhira murmurs, and my lips stretch into a wide smile as I bring the phone closer.
“Can’t get enough of me?” I ask.
“I’m merely bored, is all. Don’t get too ahead of yourself.” I can hear the smile in her voice, and it lights me up inside.
God, what I wouldn't do to earn that smile every day for the rest of my life.
I chuckle lightly. “I thought Elise was with you?”
“She came over with dinner from Chelsea, but she left a few minutes ago.”
“And you didn’t want to just go to sleep or relish your alone time?”
She doesn’t answer for a long beat, and my heart sinks with worry that I’ve said something hurtful. “Let’s just say I’m reluctant to lose the time I have with you, however much that might be.”
Blinding pain sears through me at her words, a reality that I refuse to envision, the ache soothed only by the knowledge that she cares aboutme.
“I care about you, too, little Lightning faery,” I tease, trying to dissolve some of the heaviness in our conversation. “And thank you for joining us tonight. I know the girls love it when you call.”
“If you tell anyone this, I’ll deny it, but—” She chews on her lip before continuing. “These nightly story times have become one of my favourite things.”
My smile cannot be contained, taking over my entire face and leaving my cheeks twitching. “My lips are sealed.”
Her lids droop, an adorably sleepy smile lingering on her face as we soak in each other’s company. She asks for a recap of my time with the girls, and I tell her how difficult it is to slip back into this role of father figure while trying not to lose myself in the resentment I hold towards my own father for leaving and my mum for needing me so much.
She doesn’t judge me or invalidate my feelings. She just listens, and when her eyes can’t stay open any longer, my chestyearns with the need to hold her close, even through the phone. I love that she feels safe enough to fall asleep with me on the other end of the line, and it takes a long while before I finally convince myself to end the call.
Because she isn't another temporary person I can survive without. She’s not merely passing through—she’s pulling on me, steady and relentless, until everything I am tilts towards her.
Adhira Shah has become my whole damn centre of gravity, and falling for her feels like being handed something fragile, only realising once it’s in my palms that I’ve already promised to carry it carefully. But without her,there would be nothing left to steady me.
CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE
I’ve been homefrom Mum’s for a week, and Adhira and I have adapted to a routine that makes my type-A heart soar. Ithinkit does the same for her, making the roughest parts after her infusions a little less daunting. So the fact that she hasn’t emerged from the bathroom yet, after what must be the world's longest shower ever recorded, has the hairs on the back of my neck rising.
I knock on her door for the third time, shaking my shoulders out before pushing inside, ready to rush out if she’s asleep. Her bed is made, untouched since this morning. I pound on her bathroom door, fear stealing my breath as I wait for her reply, but I hear nothing save for the sound of water pelting the floor and…whimpering?Is she crying?
“Adhira, what’s going on?” I plead, growing antsy as the moments pass without an answer.
I knock one last time before I turn the knob, throwing the door open and bolting inside, finding her crumpled on the shower floor, a curtain of hair covering her face as she clutches at clumps of her dark strands.
My heart swoops low, and it takes far too long for my brain to catch up. I whip a towel off the holder, nudging the shower door open and climbing in behind her, reaching forward to shut off the water. She doesn’t even flinch, too exhausted to react to my presence as I wrap the towel around her slim frame.
“Sweetheart, please tell me what’s going on,” I whisper, lowering myself to the floor, ice-cold water soaking through my joggers.
