Page 36 of Second Chance with the Half-Elf
Drokhaz studies me. “You look like someone tore out your mast and left you adrift.”
I grunt. “You always this poetic after hours?”
“Only when I see a man pretending he’s not heart-punched.”
I shoot him a glare.
He raises his bottle. “To pretending.”
I clink mine against his.
And try not to think about the girl with hurricane eyes and a tendency to vanish just when things start to feel real.
But the tide’s already changed.
And I don’t know how to stop following it.
CHAPTER 13
EVIE
The sun is relentless today—too bright, too honest. One of those days that refuses to let you hide, no matter how many layers you throw on or how tight you grip your camera strap like it’s armor. The boardwalk’s buzzing—families with sticky fingers and too-loud laughs, vendors shouting over each other, the smell of deep-fried dough trying its best to make me feel something.
I don’t.
I’ve been shooting for hours. Festival prep. Candid crowd shots. Dock-side portraits. Anything to keep my hands busy and my head noisy.
Anything but think about last night.
About Aeron, and the way his voice broke a little when he said my name after. About the way I ran.
Again.
The click of the shutter is my only steady heartbeat.
“Miss, can you get one of us by the saltwater taffy stand?”
I nod without looking up. “Line up and smile.”
They pose. I click. I move on.
It’s autopilot now. I chase light and ignore the shadows biting at my heels. I duck into the alley behind The Gilded Page to swap memory cards, wipe my lens, and breathe.
And of course that’s where Liara finds me.
She’s a vision of controlled chaos—blue streaks in her hair catching the light, cropped hoodie splattered with paint, eyes sharp as a storm about to start something. She’s holding a can of fizzy juice and looks like she’s been waiting.
“Been looking for you,” she says.
I grunt. “Well, congratulations. What do I win?”
She tosses the can at me. I catch it one-handed.
“Hydration and a verbal ass-kicking,” she replies sweetly.
“Hard pass on both.”
“Too bad. You’re getting one either way.” She folds her arms. “What the hell was that last night?”
