Ribbons of fate

Chapter 22: Sealing the Bond

Gael Aiden Andrez’s POV / Aiden Clarke

We stole the last hours like thieves afraid of daylight.

I made breakfast she barely touched. We shared coffee at Starbucks, her knee brushing mine under the table like she was afraid to let go. Then we drove to the cliffside overlooking the ocean, the wind wild, the waves loud enough to drown out everything we didn’t want to say.

I needed to leave something behind. Something solid.

I took her hands, grounding myself in their warmth. “Tracy… be honest with me. Is this real to you? Or is it just… chemistry?”

She didn’t laugh. She didn’t deflect.

“I like you,” she said quietly. “More than I planned to. More than feels safe.”

That was my undoing.

“Then be with me,” I said, the words heavier than they should have been. “Not just this. Not just us hiding in moments. Be my girlfriend.”

Her face lit up, pure and unguarded. “Yes. Yes, Aiden.”

I kissed her like I was sealing a vow I had no right to make.

Sancho’s car appeared down the road too soon. Reality creeping back in.

I wrapped her in a blanket on the sand, pressed my lips to her forehead, then her mouth—slow, lingering, desperate.

“I’ll call,” I said.

“I’ll wait,” she replied.

As I drove away, I watched her grow smaller in the mirror, unaware that something had already begun shifting beneath the surface. A tiny misstep. A forgotten moment. Nothing she could feel yet.

But fate doesn’t announce itself.

It waits.