Page 21 of The Chance

I nod, though I’m not sure if he’s real because all I hear is my own thoughts screaming.

“Just like that, Vida. One more.”

Warmth floods my shoulder and it’s like someone pressed play on my simulation, waking up all of my senses at once, bringing the world back into focus.

The grime-covered drain winking at me.

Sticky tiles beneath my feet.

A white-knuckled grip on the adhesive coated porcelain.

The thumping of music.

My vibrating limbs and a coldness that’s seeping into every one of my bones, fought off only by the grip on my shoulder.

I suck in the first full breath like I’ve been hiding underwater this whole time, and with it, my lungs fill with the distinct scent ofJordan.

It’s sweet and clean, almost like an apple and soap, and it’s the last sense I need to bring my mind home.

Slowly, I straighten and release my death grip, my hands aching in protest as I force my focus on a singular sticker clinging to the mirror’s upper corner.

Take the chance. It’s yours.

Very fortune cookie, and yet, it feels so damn profound.

I tear my gaze away and nearly lose all the oxygen I just collected when my sight crashes with Jordan’s navy blue eyes. They’re laced with worry but hardened as if he’s holding back anger.

“You mad, bro?” I half snap with a lift to my brow and a thin line to my lips.

His nostrils flare and he stares like he can see right through me.

“You okay?” he grits out, his arms crossing over his puffed chest I do my best to ignore.

“I …” My shoulders sag, exhaustion settling deep into my bones. “I’m fine,” I lie.

Jordan sighs, his arm dropping, and just when I think he’s going to either give me shit or walk off, he just … looks at me. His gaze softening on mine as he searches for all the answers in my eyes that I let scream all the things inside me.

Maybe if he could just see it for himself.

He reaches out, grabbing the same shoulder he held to calm me and does the last thing I expect.

He pulls me in until I’m practically falling into him, our chests clashing, his heat blanketing my still trembling body.

Shit, he’s hugging me.

“Let me take you home, Vida,” he says into my hair as I clutch at his sides, my fists clenching around his shirt. “Please.”

“O-okay.”

Chapter Ten

Jordan

“Vida, don’t make mecarry you.”

Though I say the words, I don’t mean them.

I’d carry him through Hell if it meant I got to have him back on this planet as his normal sunny self.

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