He simply…loves me.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” With his face inches from mine, it’s hard to breathe. What a sweet death it would be, though. “Not now. Not ever. I love every part of you, remember?”
“Y-yes.” In my periphery, I notice more people filtering in. Unease prickles my skin. Hope shouldn’t do everything on her own, even if she offered it. “Listen, I have to get back to work.”
“I’ll let you go then.” But his grip on my cheeks tightens.
Oh my God, I totally forgot. “You wanted to tell me something.”
“That it’s been a good day so far.” His deep, rich voice sends heat from the top of my head down to my toes. “Just a long one without you.”
“We’ll be together in no time,” I say, hoping my excitement doesn’t show.
“We will.” He threads his hand through my hair, loosening the tight bun at my nape. I’ll fix the knot later. Histouch is so worth it. “Then we’ll finally talk about you moving in.”
We both lean in for a quick kiss. “Okay.”
“Okay?” His eyebrows lift. “After the past three days of you saying you wanted to hold off on this conversation?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask what changed?”
“You can.” I sneak a glance at the growing line, then pry myself away from Alaric. “And I’ll answer this evening.”
More like this afternoon, though I keep that part—the last lie I’ll ever feed him—to myself.
The walkdown the hallway of B1 should be a familiar one.
Not today.
Yes, I know the way to Alaric’s storage unit by heart. Yes, the little chip in the paint next to the third door from the elevator is one I’ve noticed a handful of times. The soft, barely audible whoosh of the elevator—I recognize it just as well.
What’s different is me.
This afternoon, unlike the others, I’m not heading to the storage unit next to Alaric’s.
I’m about to go intohis.
As I tread over the cement floor, my breath stutters, coming in and out in short rasps. The duplicate spare key feels wrong as it lies inside my sweaty palm.
It doesn’t cut into my skin or anything.
It’s just wrong.
Because even though I’m confident this is the right move, even though Hope didn’t suspect a thing when I said I’d be sneaking into Alaric’s apartment to surprise him, I don’t like it.
My confidence has slipped since I left the cafeteria, like this might backfire on me. Onus, as a couple.
The dread is so strong that I’m struggling to breathe. My throat is tight.
But as consuming as my fear is, I have to do it.
For Alaric.
That conviction is what forces me to walk these last six feet to his door. To fit the key into the lock.
It slides in and…I leave it there.