Page 125 of The Space Between
We don’t speak—but everything issaid.
I’m here, Blakelyn.
You’re not alone.
I love you.
We lose time. We find each other over and over. And when she comes again, I feel it in her kiss, in the way her whole body clutches around mine, in the way she breathes my name like it’s the only thing she’s certain of.
I let go after her, burying myself deep and spilling into her with a groan that shakes me loose from everything I’ve buried.
And when it’s over… when we’re nothing but breath and heartbeats and tangled limbs on the couch and the floor, I hold her against my chest.
Her fingers trace a lazy circle on my ribs and she whispers, “You stayed… even after I told you I loved you.”
I swallow and nod, “I did. I told you I would, Blakelyn.”
Her smile is soft. Her eyes are glassy. She doesn’t push me for a declaration though she made certain that I heard hers.
And I know…
We’re not healed.
Neither of us are whole.
But we’re trying.
Together.
CHAPTER 21
Blakelyn
The sun is up,but the air hasn’t burned off the heaviness from last night. Everything feels quiet. Too quiet.
I’m back in Gruene’s shirt, curled up on his couch like I never left it, because I didn’t. We slept here. The curtains are open, and the early morning sunlight is dancing over us like a whisper.
But it’s not peaceful… not anymore.
There’s a weight on my chest that no amount of sleep can shake off. The kind that comes from knowing you’ve beenfound…no matter how far you run, some people will never let you go.
Staring out the window at the slow roll of the river, I try not to think about Tyler’s text. Or how his words crawled under my skin like a sickness I thought I’d already healed from.
Ihaven’t.
He knows exactly where I am.
Because he’s already been here.
And he knows that Gruene matters to me.
He will try to use that to hurt me. I know he will.
I know him.
Gruene has goneto the shop, and I’ve called in to school again, saying I’m still under the weather, when I finally shuffle back to my cabin next door.
Pulling the door open, I leave it creaking behind me.
