Phoenix:
I stood there, locked in his arms.
His scent was all around me—something warm and clean, but dark at the edges. Ryder. I’d spent so many nights dreaming of this, secretly, quietly, the kind of dream you don’t say out loud because it feels too fragile. Too dangerous.
But now, I was here. In his arms. After everything. After the silence, the years, the heartbreak I swore didn’t touch me but never quite left.
And for once in my stubborn, loud, reckless life… I cried.
It didn’t start graceful. I clenched my jaw, blinking hard, trying to force the heat back down. But it climbed anyway. It spilled. One tear, then two. Then a sound tore from my throat that didn’t even sound like me. My shoulders shook, and I hated it—I hated feeling soft, breakable. But I couldn’t stop it.
Ryder ea
