The Space Between Heartbeats

The Flicker

Chapter Twenty

The Flicker

EM’S POV

I sat in a chair in the hospital waiting room, head in my hands, lungs burning.

I should’ve felt relieved.

Danni was awake. Breathing. Alive.

But all I felt was guilt, chewing holes in my chest.

I’d snapped at her.

Yelled.

Thrown words like daggers because I was so damn scared—

Scared Danni would get pulled back into old heartbreak.

Scared I’d lose my best friend.

Scared I’d be left holding the pieces again.

“God, I’m such a b***h,” I muttered to no one, swiping angrily at my tears.

But deeper down—

Deeper than the guilt—

Something else was gnawing at me.

When Cole told me Danni had chosen, I braced for the gut punch.

But then he said she chose herself.

Not Rixon.

Not Cole.

Herself.

And I exhaled—finally—like I’d been holding my breath for days.

Because Danni wasn’t going back to Rixon.

And—

Cole was still here.

Single. Untangled.

And for some reason, that scared me more than anything.

Because somewhere between searching for Danni after the accident,

And sitting in this waiting room,

And watching Cole c***k around the edges—

I’d started seeing him differently.

Not as the cocky i***t who annoyed me.

Not as Danni’s almost-something.

But as the guy who stayed.

The guy who handed me coffee when my hands shook.

The guy who sat beside me in silence when the world was falling apart.

And that terrified me.

Because I didn’t do soft feelings.

Didn’t do crushes.

Didn’t let people in.

But Cole?

He was slipping past my walls without permission.

I let out a shaky breath. Scrubbed my hands over my face.

“Get it together, Em,” I whispered.

“She’s your best friend. He’s… Cole. This is complicated.”

But under the panic—

That flicker stayed.

And it was growing.

Whether I wanted it to or not.