Page 12 of Without a Trace
Trace stood still, tension rippling through him. His shoulders tensed, but he didn’t step back. “She’s not walking alone.”
Their eyes locked—not with hate. Not with rage. Just with years of unspoken things and one girl swaying between them.
“I can walk,” I muttered.
“You’re not walking,” Sloane said.
“I got her,” Alden repeated, arm already steadying me.
Trace didn’t argue, just followed.
Back up the hill. Through the soft night. Into the cabin.
They got me to bed—Sloane muttering something about hydration and idiots—Alden pulling the blanket up over my legs like he’d done it before. Like he wished this night ended differently. Trace didn’t cross the threshold. He just stood there—watching, burning. I could feel it, even through my fog. Want. Regret. Something old and quiet, as if he’d already lost me and didn’t know how to get me back.
I faded fast.
But before the night took me, I felt a hand gently press on my forehead.
A voice like smoke saying, “She doesn’t even see it.”
Then the click of the door shutting behind him.
Alden
The house was quieter than it should’ve been.
Rhett dropped onto the couch like his bones hurt, Kane handed him another beer, and Trace… Trace stood in the corner like a ghost who hadn’t decided if he was staying or leaving.
“She okay?” Rhett asked, nodding toward the stairs.
“Passed out,” I said. “Sloane’s staying in the room with her, just in case.”
Pressure buzzed beneath my skin. Not pain. Not heat. Just—something old pressing up through the floorboards, humming in the ink on my arm.
Trace rubbed his wrist, his jaw clenched. I didn’t ask. He wouldn’t answer anyway. Just crossed his arms, like if he left them loose, he might reach for something he couldn’t have.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
He looked at me, glaring. “You think I don’t know that?”
Kane cracked open a beer. “Alright, let’s not start swinging our dicks. She’s not even awake to roll her eyes at us.”
Rhett snorted. “Seriously. This is the most awkward male-bonding sleepover I’ve ever been part of.”
Trace sat down, arms resting on his knees. “I just wanted to see her.”
“You already did that,” I said. “Now what?”
I leaned back, staring at the ceiling hoping it had answers. “You left her once. You gonna do it again?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Good.” I looked back to him. “Then help it.”
Silence stretched between us.
Rhett finally muttered, “We’re all in deep, aren’t we?”
