Chapter 11 - We Were Never Just Friends

💔 Chapter 11 – 

His breath was warm against my neck.

"I plan to," he whispered again.

And just like that, the silence between us grew louder than the music behind those club doors.

I stepped back.

Maybe because I didn't trust myself.

Maybe because I was already starting to believe him.

But belief in Jace West had always come with consequences.

"I don't want this to be just another game," I said quietly.

His gaze softened. "Then stop pretending we ever played fair."

I hated how easily his words dug under my skin. How familiar his voice still sounded saying my name. How my body still remembered the way he touched me like it meant something.

"Jace, people don't just disappear and come back acting like nothing happened."

"I never said nothing happened," he said. "I left because I had to. But I'm back because I want to be."

The moonlight caught the silver chain around his neck. I remembered tugging at that chain once, months ago, when his lips were on my collarbone and I thought maybe—just maybe—what we had was real.

"You could've called," I said. "You could've told me where you were. That you were alive. That you still... cared."

He stepped closer. "I never stopped."

My voice cracked. "Then why didn't you stay?"

He looked away, jaw clenched. "Because loving you scared the hell out of me."

And there it was. The truth I'd always suspected but never heard out loud.

He wasn't just gone.

He ran.

From me. From us. From something that could've been everything.

"I don't know if I can trust you again," I whispered.

He nodded slowly. "Then let me earn it."

The silence returned. This time, not so loud. This time, more like a pause between heartbeats.

"Goodnight, Jace."

He didn't stop me this time. He just watched me walk away, eyes burning into my back, like he already knew…

This wasn't over.

Not even close.