Chapter Eight:
Dani
I wasn't going to call him.I wasn't even going to think about him.
But at 2:17 a.m., wrapped in nothing but a silk robe and a storm of emotions, I found myself standing outside his apartment door.
Stupid.So stupid.
The hallway smelled like cigarette smoke and heartbreak. The same scent I remembered from that night — the night I left him two years ago.
But this time… I had kissed him first.I had started this mess.
Knock once and leave, I told myself.
But my knuckles betrayed me.
Before I could talk myself out of it, the door swung open—and there he was.
Jace.Half-asleep. Shirtless. Eyes wild with confusion and heat.
His voice was low. Scratchy. Beautiful.
"Dani?"
I hated how my name sounded like a prayer on his lips.
"I shouldn't be here," I whispered, already stepping inside.
He didn't stop me.He didn't say anything.
He just looked. Like I was the only thing in the world that made sense to him.
And suddenly, we were too close. My back hit the wall. His hand braced beside my head. My breath hitched as he leaned in, nose brushing mine.
"Tell me why you're here," he murmured.
I swallowed hard.
"I don't know."
He searched my face like he was trying to memorize it. As if afraid I'd vanish again.
"You kissed me last night," he said. "Then ran."
"I panicked."
"You always do when you feel something."
"So do you."
His jaw clenched. And in that moment, I saw it. All of it.
The pain. The want. The truth.
"You want me to stop loving you, Dani?" he whispered. "You're gonna have to kill me."
Then he kissed me.
And this time, I kissed him like I meant it.