Page 158 of Sinful Desires
Like you’d always been there, watching what my lies can’t conceal
Now it’s purple stars when you touch me slow
The kind of love we’re not meant to show
Fingertips sketching what we can’t name: In a world that flinches at hunger and flame
It’s you in the shadows, it’s me holding tight
My star in the darkness, the moon in my night
Under chandeliers and the masks we wear
We burned in the silence no one could bear
I sighed and let the notebook fall into the sand beside me, pulling my knees in, letting the wind drag over my skin. The waves were quiet, too soft for the mess in my head, but enough to keep me from slipping.
It means everything you thought you survived by yourself, every time you thought you were about to break, I was there.
If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t drag it out.Would’ve saved myself years of migraines.
You don’t get to die yet, Scarlett.Not until you learn how to survive.
Planning to drown again?
Te souviens-tu de moi, Scarlett?
Je t’appartiens comme tu m’appartiens.
Mon étoile filante.
My star in the darkness.
It was there, right in front of me. The whole damn time.
Two years of clues scattered at my feet, and I had stumbled over every single one.
The way he’d moved through my apartment that first day. So at ease, not a single curious glance. Everyone else who’d walked into my chaos had something to say. The clutter, the crowd of artwork on the walls, my red furniture.
But Théo had said nothing. He just slipped in, like he already knew where everything was. Like he’d been there before.
The thought sliced through me, sharp and cold.
All those nights I’d woken to the floorboards creaking, to a whisper of air that felt like a sigh, the faint touch of warmth on my cheek. I’d stare into the dark, heart pounding, plastic stars glowing on the ceiling above, telling myself it was just a dream.
And the pool. God. That night by the pool. I saw it so clearly now: the way he had gone rigid when I climbed the railing, when I dove in without warning. How he’d stood on the edge, body taut, breath held like a man staring down his worst fear.
Panic in his eyes, while I’d broken the surface chuckling. I’d thought I was being reckless, thought I was teasing him, playing some stupid flirtation game with a man I’d assumed was unflappable.
I hadn’t known.
I hadn’t known that I’d brought him back tothatnight.
Because he’d seen me do it before. He’d saved me from drowning once, when I had been too high to remember.
I heard the blood rushing in my ears.
My chest felt too small for that realization, for the shards of memory cutting their way in. His arms around me in the cold water, strong and sure. The soft hush of his voice caressing my ear.
