Bree
Our fingers were intertwined, Gage’s body so close to mine that our arms felt fused together, as though the universe itself had decided to stitch us into one being for the night. The heat of his skin bled into mine, steady and grounding, a quiet reminder that he wasn’t going anywhere. After the storm that had broken loose in me earlier, the simple act of being tethered to him felt like salvation.
Once my sobs had finally dried up and the tremors in my chest eased, he had coaxed me to tell him everything. Not just the vague outlines or the pieces that were easy to carry—but all of it. He had asked me not to hold back, not to spare a single detail. And I had. The words had tumbled out of me, jagged and halting at first, then in a rush as though they had been waiting too long behind th
