“And you’re still noticing details you shouldn’t remember.”
Nerissa flashes a faintly smug smile.
“I’ve never forgotten anything that has to do with you. That’s always been part of the problem.”
Seraphina leans against the edge of the table, trying to ignore the uncomfortable flutter in her chest.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“And you shouldn’t have slept with me last night,” Nerissa replies in a low but firm voice. “We’re even.”
Seraphina grips the hot cup between her hands, searching for something tangible to hold on to.
“I don’t know what you want from me.”
Nerissa watches her in silence before answering honestly.
“The truth. That’s all.”
The truth is dangerous, and Seraphina knows it. It means admitting that she thinks about Nerissa constantly, that she has spent years waking up beside Elliot imagining a different life, that once again she felt more alive than ever in Nerissa’s arms.
“I have a family,” she reminds her.
“I know.”
“Then stop looking at me as if it were all so simple,” Seraphina pleads.
Something like weariness crosses Nerissa’s face.
“I don’t think it’s simple. I just think you’ve been living for everyone else for so long that you can’t even tell what you want anymore.”
Seraphina looks away toward the windows. Manchester appears gray and blurred behind the rain.
“Elliot isn’t a bad man.”
“I never said he was.”
“He’s a good father, and he loves me.”
Nerissa is silent for a few seconds, choosing her words carefully.
“I’m sure he does. But what matters here is that you don’t love him.”
Seraphina feels her heart clench violently. Because there it is again, that unbearable feeling: being truly seen by someone, without any filter.
“You can’t ask me to destroy my life,” she whispers.
“I’m not asking you for anything. Just stop running away.”
“Last night seemed to suggest otherwise.”
Nerissa sets her cup down on the table and takes a step closer.
“Last night I made it very clear that I’ve been trying to forget you for six months and failing every single day. Because I’m tired of settling for the crumbs you give me. Because while Daphne was talking to me, all I could think about was howyou wrinkle your nose when you’re angry, how you bite your lip when you’re nervous… all the things I’ve never been able to erase.”
Seraphina’s throat goes dry.
“Don’t say those things here.”
