“Tiana… just walk. Don’t look back. Keep moving.Ignore him.“ Leila persuades me.
But seeing him just lights something in me,i don’t know why.
“Just hold on Tiana…” He speaks.
I falter—Leila's words forgotten in the face of that voice. Against every instinct in my body,I hesitate—my heart pounding in my ears, my stomach twisting into a million different knots.I want to keep walking. I want to just… pretend i never heard him,move away, keep my life safe and simple, like i did before.
He takes a careful step forward—
“Tiana… please… I wanna talk.”
Aiden exhales sharply—His expression is carefully guarded, but his voice cracks with something uncharacteristically raw when he speaks.
“I want you to hear me out. That’s all. Just… five minutes.Five minutes and then if you tell me to go…
