Page 122 of One Spicy Summer

One message.Are you okay?

I don’t answer right away. What does ‘okay’ mean?

By the time I pull into the gravel driveway, the sun is just starting to rise behind the trees. Pale light spills over the porch where she stands, barefoot, arms wrapped around herself. Her hair a mess. Her eye still shut from Keifer’s assault but the other wasn’t surprised.

“You did it.” Her voice is soft, not accusing. Just… certain.

I step out of the truck, slower than usual. Everything hurts. Not just my body, but the part of me that used to hope. The part I thought I buried a long time ago.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” I say.

Presley steps down off the porch and comes to me anyway.

“You’ve already seen the worst of me, Rygaard. And you’re still here.”

I don’t know what to say to that. So, I say nothing at all. Just stand there as she reaches up, touching my bruised face, tracing the healing cut near my eye. Her hands don’t flinch. “Was it bad?”

“Yes, but it needed to be done.”

She nods, like she understands more than she lets on. Then she takes my hand, the one that had done the killing, still raw, still trembling, and laces her fingers with mine. “It’s time to come back to me, Ry Ry.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

The front door creaks open behind us.

Warm light spills out, amber, soft.

Safe.

It smells like coffee.

Rain.

Her.

I follow her inside.

I believe in redemption.

In her.

And for now, that’s enough.

But once she hears what I have to say… I don’t know if she’ll still feel the same way.

The storm outside mirrors the chaos in Presley’s chest as she stands on the porch of her childhood home, the place whereI had once been just her brother’s shadow. But I wasn’t that anymore.

Not to her.

“I told you I’d ruin everything.” My voice cracks as I step into the light. My knuckles still bruised. My jaw clenched. “I never should’ve touched you.”

Presley takes a step forward. “You think this is ruined?”

“I made a deal to keep you safe.” I mutter. “Years ago. With your brother. I said I’d walk away if it meant protecting you from who I was, who I am.” I turn my back to her. “I’ve done things, Prez. Dark things. Things your brother knows. That’s why he warned you.”

“And he was right.” Presley says softly. “You are dangerous. But not to me.”

I turn back to her slowly, eyes shadowed. “You don’t know everything.”

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