Page 20 of Crossed Paths
She presses her fingers against the edge of the photo again, like she needs something solid to anchor her.
“I didn’t know any better,” she adds, almost to herself.
“I did,” I say quietly.
She looks up.
“I knew what it was supposed to feel like. Because even back then—” I pause, steady my voice “—I felt it every time I was around you.”
She turns toward me fully now, brow furrowed, eyes searching mine.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
I let out a breath. “Because I was young. And I didn’t know what the hell to do with the way I felt.”
I rub a hand over the back of my neck, trying to find the right words.
“And then Darren turned up—flashy job, shiny car that looked like it cost more than my entire life—and you seemed happy. Or at least, you looked like someone who’d made a decision. So, I thought... I’d missed my chance.”
She doesn’t say anything, so I keep going.
“I just hoped you were happy, even if it wasn’t with me.”
I pause, the words heavy in my mouth.
“And when he—when he treated you like that, when he made a fool of you in front of everyone—I wanted to kill him.”
Her expression tightens slightly, jaw flexing.
“I mean it,” I say, voice quieter now. “I could’ve murdered him for what he did to you.”
But Alex shakes her head.
“No,” she says firmly. “He didn’t hurt me, Hunter. Not like that.”
I frown. “Alex—”
She cuts me off, not unkindly. “Hehumiliatedme. That’s what it was. I wasn’t heartbroken. I wasn’t even surprised. It wasn’t the bloody first time that he had cheated on me. But that time I just felt... small. Because the village was watching me come undonein real time.”
My chest aches at that.
She continues, voice steady, but softer now. “He didn’t break my heart—he shattered my pride. My sense of judgement. I didn’t cry when I left him. I just packed up and disappeared for a bit because I couldn’t bear the pity.”
I nod, throat tight.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“No,” she says, a bitter smile ghosting her lips. “But I survived it. And then I built a life that was mine.”
She stands there, arms crossed but not defensive, her eyes soft and full of something that makes my chest ache.
And I’m itching to pull her into a hug. Every part of me wants to close the space between us. To hold her and let her lean for once.
But I don’t.
Not until she gives me permission.
“Alex…” I say quietly.
