NIKO.
Though it was the last thing I wanted, I still said it. The words left my mouth sharp and final, the kind that couldn’t be taken back once they were out in the open. I watched them land on Alex like a slap I hadn’t intended to deliver.
Her smile faltered first. Then her eyes shifted subtly, but I noticed. I always noticed. The warmth drained from them, replaced by something guarded, something wounded. She nodded once, slowly, like she was steadying herself.
“If that’s what you think is best,” she said quietly.
It wasn’t. I knew deep within me that it wasn’t. Every instinct in me screamed to reach for her, to pull her into my arms and tell her I never wanted distance, never wanted her away from me, never wanted to be careful when it came to us. I wanted to tell her that fear had s
