Liam’s laugh filled the café.
It was easy. Natural. The kind of sound that had always tugged me back no matter how many times I tried to walk away.
He leaned forward across the table, his hand brushing mine for the briefest second, and my chest tightened like it always did. That familiar pull, that stupid hope that maybe—just maybe—this time he’d see me the way I wanted him to.
I told myself this was enough. Coffee with Liam. His attention, his smile. Even if it was half-hearted, even if it wasn’t the kind of fire I sometimes thought I wanted, it was still him. And I’d always wanted him.
But later, when I walked home, that wasn’t what stayed with me.
It was Aiden.
The memory of his voice the night I couldn’t sleep.
The way he said, “You’ve always been chosen.”
I shook my head hard,
