Page 23 of Wild For You

“Give up?” Nico's voice was tight, his jaw clenched as he confronted the possibility head-on.

“No, not give up. Just... pause, until we figure things out.” The suggestion was a life raft offered amidst the storm, but one that threatened to drift us further apart.

“Pause.” Nico tasted the word, bitter on his tongue. “If that's what you need.”

“It's not what I need, it's what might be best—for now.” My defense was feeble even to my ears, my resolve crumbling like the fallen leaves beneath our feet.

“Then we'll pause,” Nico conceded. “But Josie, remember this—I'm not walking away.”

“Neither am I,” I whispered, but the conviction was a flickering flame in the wind, struggling to stay alight.

As Nico turned to leave, the creak of the aged floorboards beneath his boots sounded like the closing of a book—one whose ending was yet unwritten. I watched him go, my heart splintering with each retreating step, the whimsical dream of romance slipping through my fingers like the last rays of sunshine.

In the quiet that followed, only the click of my camera shutter broke the silence, capturing the emptiness where Nico had stood—a haunting portrait of love caught in the throes of uncertainty.

I needed to get some solace so I walked down the street to the diner.

Their eyes were on me as I passed by the diner's large window. Suspicions and judgments aimed like arrows at my back.

15

Josie

I rounded the corner, taking a shortcut through the park, where the scent of wildflowers mingled with the undercurrent of unease that now blanketed the town. I held my camera to my eye, seeking solace through the lens, capturing the way the fading light kissed the petals of roses in the community garden. But even the beauty in her viewfinder couldn't filter out the turmoil within.

“Hey, Josie!” Linda, the florist, called out from where she pruned the bushes. “You heard about Mike? Bet it's stirrin' up all kinds of feelings, huh?”

I forced a smile, nodding politely, while inside, my emotions churned—a blend of sepia-toned memories and the vibrant hope of new beginnings. I snapped a photo of the roses, focusing on the contrast between the thorns and the softness of the blooms, a metaphor for the love I grappled with.

After a couple hours, I headed over to Nico’s. Maybe we shouldn’t let Michael change things between us. He had his shot with me and blew it. Nico and Haley deserved someone who stayed around. Nico was the one that once told me in confidence that people always left and I didn’t want to be that person.

My heart was a clenched fist in my chest as I stood on the porch of Nico's house, the wood beneath my feet groaning like an old man settling into his rocking chair.

I knocked and the door swung open, except instead of inviting me in, he stepped outside and sat down on the porch swing.

“Josie, I know you're scared. Hell, I am too. But we don't have to let this... Let him dictate our lives.”

The raw sincerity in his tone coaxed my eyes up to meet his. There was a vulnerability there, a flicker of the young boy who once looked up to his brother before life dealt them a cruel hand.

“Dictate our lives?” I echoed, my voice cracking like thin ice under the weight of all I held inside. My thoughts were a tangled mess, a knot I couldn't seem to untie. I stepped forward, closing the distance, my hand lifting as if to reach for him but hesitating mid-air.

“Every look, every whisper—it's like I'm back there, Nico. Back when everything fell apart.”

Nico's hand covered mine, his fingers wrapping around my wrist with a tenderness that belied his rugged exterior. “I won't let the past hurt us. Not anymore.” His thumb brushed against my skin in a comforting rhythm.

“Us. But what about Haley? What about your loyalty to your brother?”

“Michael needs to find his own way,” Nico said, the certainty in his voice faltering as he spoke of his nephew's father. “My loyalty is to Haley—and to you. If you'll have it.”

My breath hitched at the declaration, my heart somersaulting with hope and fear. I wanted to lean into his warmth, to let his strength be my sanctuary, but the shadows cast by Michael's return loomed large and threatening.

“Finding common ground feels like trying to balance on a razor's edge,” I whispered, my inner turmoil spilling out. “I wantto be with you, Nico. But how can we build something when the foundation feels like it's crumbling beneath us?”

“By holding onto each other,” he said, pulling me gently into his embrace. “We'll rebuild, piece by piece. Together.”

In the haven of his arms, I allowed myself a moment of respite.

“Promise me we'll get through this.”

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