Page 166 of When the Storm Breaks
He glanced at me—this glint in his eye, mischievous and knowing—and gently took my hand in his, pressing it down over my thigh. Holding it there.
And every time we hit a stop sign, no matter how rare, they allbecame the same thing:
An excuse to pull me in.
He kissed me with this kind of hunger—like he’d been waiting for days, for weeks.
Like he couldn’t help himself.
Like he couldn’t stop.
He did it again and again. Every stop, he dragged me closer. Kissed me like he was starving.
And once, when the road stretched out empty in front of us, nothing but darkness ahead, he did something else.
He didn’t stop.
He just slowed down—barely—and lifted his hand, threading his fingers through my hair, tugging me toward him with a rough pull. Kissing me deeply.
I laughed, breathless. “Oh my God, watch the road! There wasn’t even a stop sign!”
He just tightened his grip, pulling me closer.
“Didn’t need one,” he whispered, brushing his lips over mine before kissing me again—slower this time, his tongue tracing the curve of my mouth.
He pulled over after that, into a little turnout on the side of the road.
The evening had deepened into night, the world around us still and quiet.
His fist was still tangled in my hair. His urgency poured into me.
He kissed me harder. Deeper. And it said everything we’d never spoken out loud.
I barely registered the click of his seatbelt. I was already crawlingover the console, fumbling with his jeans—needing more.
It had been so easy to love him then.
So effortless.
I sigh, blinking myself back into reality. The room feels too quiet now. Too still. Like I’m still in that car—but we hit the brakes too hard, and everything stopped.
My fingers tighten around the butterfly, clutching it like it’s the last piece of him I have.
Like letting go would mean losing him all over again.
I trace the delicate folds, again and again—until I pull too hard.
One of the wings rips straight down the middle.
A clean, precise tear.
It feels like a sign. A warning. A punishment.
A reminder that I’m fooling myself.
I’ll never really let him go.
Chapter 55
