Page 59 of When the Storm Breaks
Stupid.
Stupid for going there at all. For thinking I could handle it alone. For needing Haiyden, of all people, to get me out of it.
It’s just another reminder that I’m not as capable as I want to be.
I think about the way he yelled at me, frustration thick in his voice—but there was something else beneath it. Something raw.
His anger wasn’t what I expected. It didn’t feel like rejection. If anything, it felt like the opposite.
Haiyden’s usually so closed off, so impossible to read.
But last night… last night was different.
And the kiss.
A familiar, unwelcome warmth blooms low in my body.
It was everything and nothing like I’d imagined. Urgent. Intense. Like he’d been holding something back too long and finally let it slip.
Now, in the quiet, I can’t stop replaying it. The heat of his mouth, the weight of him against me. The way he tore through me like I wasn’t something to be careful with.
And now?
I don’t know what to make of any of it—of him.
The hours slip by, the last streaks of sunlight stretching weak across the floor before fading completely as twilight bleeds into night. The TV murmurs in the background, a low buzz that does nothing to quiet the thoughts circling my head.
Something about him just seemed… off.
He brought my car back fast. Too fast.
If he’d been calling all morning, that means he must’ve gone back for it late last night. Or early this morning.
But why didn’t he just wait for me to answer?
I exhale deeply, rubbing at my temple. Maybe I’m overthinking. Maybe it was nothing.
But the way he looked at me this morning, brows drawn, shoulderstense, replays on a loop in my head.
Like he’d been bracing for something worse. Like he was… relieved.
It was probably a simple fix. Or—
What if there was nothing wrong with my car at all?
I shift against the couch, embarrassment sliding through me in a steady stream. Maybe I should’ve figured it out on my own. Maybe it was something obvious—something I would’ve caught if I hadn’t panicked.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I walk into the bedroom and grab my phone from the nightstand, hesitating for just a second before opening my messages.
Me: Thanks again.
His response comes almost immediately.
Haiyden: No problem.
I tap my fingers against the side of my phone before typing again.
Me: What was wrong with it?
