Page 158 of Traitor

Snowflakes.

They fall slow. Soft. Not enough to survive their trip to the ground, but they're beautiful while they last.

"Would you be okay if you never saw him again?"

Adora's voice is quiet. Almost fragile.

And the question hits me hard.

If someone had asked me before Bones found me, or even after, I would have laughed in their face. I was angry. So angry. It was the only thing I could feel. I couldn't see underneath it.

But now?

Now that those shadows have gone, I see it.

The longing inside me. The need to feel his arms around me again. The way his presence doesn't suffocate me anymore, but instead... steadies me. I don't know when it happened, but he feels like a tentative safe space again.

Like I could explore it. See if it sticks. See if it becomes permanent.

Somehow, he glued back together the shattered pieces his betrayal created. They aren't firm in place, and the cracks are still there, but for the first time...

I can see a future where they could hold permanently.

Fuck. Stubborn asshole.

I exhale. My heart pounds.

"No," I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. "I wouldn't be okay."

My own words shock me.

Adora smiles softly. "Then that's your answer."

"Damn him!" Ria throws her hands in the air, exasperated. "I knew you should have killed him when you had the chance. You wouldn't be having these kinds of problems now."

Layla laughs. Adora smiles wide.

Ria glares. "I'm serious. You let him live, and now you're going to have to deal with the consequences. You should have known better."

I roll my eyes. "Ria."

She sighs dramatically. "Tempe, it's your fucking life. If you want to do something, do it. It's better to be ninety and regret the stuff youdidthan be ninety and regret the stuff youdidn'tdo." She pauses. "Except hard drugs. It's better to regretnotdoing those."

I narrow my eyes. "You smoke weed at least once a month."

She gives me a deadpan stare. "That's not a hard drug, Tempe. Stop being silly."

Layla and Adora giggle.

Ria crosses her arms. "Anyway, if you want the stupid biker, go for it. There's always some kind of poison to end him if he gets too annoying."

Then, suddenly, she softens.

"But if there's a chance he could make you happy again..." Her voice grows stronger. "Don't be a coward. It's not what I taught you all these years."

The kiss is life-altering. A shockwave rippling through my body. It's raw. Consuming. His lips claim, demand, own. Like I was always meant to be here, tangled up in him, drowning in the taste of whiskey and sin.

Who the hell is this man? And how can he kiss like this?

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