Page 168 of Their Arrangement
When I bled.
When I begged.
My breathing turned shallow. That kind of shallow you feel in your stomach first. Like air is too expensive. I blinked twice.
Don’t run. Don’t run. Don’t run.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Just stood there.
Smiling like he knew I couldn’t scream.
Like he wanted me to.
I looked down at the coffee tray. Held it tighter. Stepped to the left. Not fast. Not slow. Just enough to move. To survive. I walked past him. Out the café door. Never looking back.
Because if I did?—
If I saw even a flicker of what used to live in his smile?—
I’d lose what little composure I had left.
His smile widened. Too wide. Teeth too white. That same lazy confidence in the way he leaned against the wall.
I know you.
That’s what his body said.
I remember what you sound like when you cry.
That’s what his mouth almost whispered.
I couldn’t breathe.
The tray wobbled in my hands.
I tightened my grip.
Adjusted the weight.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t move.
Didn’t fall.
But God, I wanted to run.
He didn’t approach. Didn’t wave. Didn’t say a word. Just scratched his jaw with one hand. And I saw it. That twitch. The one that always came before he said something cruel. Something that hurt.
He’s watching you.
That’s what Selene said.
What her message didn’t type. What the silence in my pocket was still screaming. But now I knew. He wasn’t just back. He was close. And I had just walked past him like I was still the girl who hadn’t learned how to leave.
