NICHOLAS
I’d never felt so bare, so utterly stripped of every layer of armor I’d spent over a decade building around myself, as I did in that moment. Standing with Emily on that ancient, rusted platform high above the ground, wind howling around us like it was trying to say something, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Not even if I tried.
The way her lips parted in awe, her eyes wide with wonder as they took in the stormy expanse around us… the gray sky and the sea of rooftops and lights, it nearly brought me to my knees. She didn’t see danger, didn’t feel fear. Only thrill. Only freedom.
But I felt all of it… for her.
We were feet above the ground, the platform creaking faintly under us with every gust of wind, and for the first time in my life, I wasn’t worried about myself. I wasn’t
