Page 71 of One Night Forsaken

Eating a few items, we bag some to take back to the apartment.

“You have fun?” Braydon asks as we exit the park.

“I did. You?”

He nods, hugging me closer to his side before pressing his lips to my crown. “I did.”

As we approach the back stairwell for my apartment, a thought flares to life.

Will it always be like this? If Braydon and I stay together, will our life be like this? Carefree. Full of laughter. Insatiable.

I truly hope so.

CHAPTER30

BRAYDON

Leaving her each time is the hardest damn thing. Not that I have much choice.

Our relationship is far too new for me to suggest something more permanent—like me moving closer. But damn, I would move anywhere for her. In a heartbeat.

And that… is scary as hell.

Begrudgingly, I shove my clothes in my duffel. The same clothes she washed and folded yesterday without me knowing. Ugh. At least she isn’t in the room while I pack. At least her intense stare isn’t following my every move as I prepare to go.

As the sun pinked the sky, Alessandra dressed and headed out the door. I’d heard the faintthump, thump, thumpof her footsteps as she’d trekked down the stairs. And then, nothing. I’d tugged her pillow closer. Inhaled her scent on the cotton. Snuggled it against my frame as I drifted back to sleep.

I’d woken with the pillow still in my arms and dreams of her still fresh in my mind.

Realization hit me hard in that moment. The exact moment Iknew, with absolute certainty, I’d fallen in love with her.

“Do I tell her?” I mumble to myself as I shove the last item in my bag.

The zipper buzzes as I close the duffel. I hoist the bag off the bed and sling the strap over my shoulder. The moment reality set in this morning, the moment it dawned on me I love her, everything shifted. Time ticked slower. Nervousness I hadn’t felt in weeks came back in full force. And all I did was think, think, think.

Should I tell her how I feel?

I close my eyes and try to picture it. Me confessing how I feel. No matter how many ways I spin the idea in my head, I can’t see her reaction.

This—us—is newer than new. How do I know what I feel is love?

The last time I loved a woman, she ripped my heart out and left it to wither. Gabby had said she loved me countless times. Perhaps in her own way, she did. But Gabby’s version of love had been so different than mine. Years of her saying those words…“I love you, babe.”…they were all bullshit. A phrase on repeat after saying the first year or two.

In the beginning, before Gabby and I graduated high school, I didn’t doubt we loved one another. But college tugged us in different directions. I focused on schoolwork while Gabby partied more and more. When I look back now, I see where the division began. The moment when saying I love you was more out of habit than actual sentiment.

And I don’t want that to happen again. Not with Alessandra.

Those three little words want to make themselves heard, but I fear the grand impact they will have if I say them.

After one last look around the apartment, I slip on my shoes and walk out the door. I stow my bag in the car then pull my phone from my pocket.

Braydon

Out back with a growling stomach.

The gray dots dance on the screen. My fingers tap the front of my thigh.

Alessandra

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