Ethan
I didn’t expect her to ask me to stay.
When Emily turned to me with those wide, uncertain eyes and said it, I was stunned. My first instinct was to leave, because being around her stirred things in me I wasn’t sure I could control.
But the vulnerability in her voice, the way she seemed to need something from me, held me in place.
“Alright,” I said quietly, easing back onto the bench beside her. “I’ll stay.”
She offered me a small, grateful smile and hugged my jacket tighter around her. For a while, neither of us spoke. The hum of the city filled the silence between us.
Damn it Ethan! f*****g say something.
“I need to apologize,” I started, breaking the stillness.
Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing slightly. “Apologize? For what?”
“For everything,” I said, my voice thick wit
