SYLAS
As soon as Anna parks her car, I’m standing by the driver’s side. She stares up at me, face stoic, and when she climbs out, I note the muscles working in her jaw.
“I don’t want to hear it.” She heaves a sharp sigh, blowing her bangs away from her face.
She texted me two hours ago, letting me know she was taking me up on the offer. She didn’t explain, only said she needed a few weeks to figure out a new living arrangement.
She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m never letting her go.
I’m not sure how I’m going to make that happen, how to make her fall in love with me again, but I’ll figure it out.
This has to be fate, divine intervention—or someone really took pity on me and had our lives cross again. I didn’t happen to get traded to the same state and city she lives in by coincidence. I don’t know who or what conjured this up, but I’ve never been more grateful.
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I supply innocently, and follow her as she opens the trunk of her car. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. We’ve got it.”
Maya is climbing out and opening the back door where I spot Rosie sitting in her car seat, sleeping. Maya and I reach for her at the same time, but I step back before we bump into each other.
I know little about her, and even less about how they started talking again. When Anna and I last spoke about her, she was upset because her sister cut her off.
Anna never gave me the details, only that Maya was angry that she was dating me. I hate myself for being what caused them to drift apart, even more so because I ended things.
“You get her, and I’ll help Anna,” she instructs, and stands next to her sister. They didn’t bring much, just a few bags.
I quietly push down on the buckle and remove the straps. Rosie stirs a little, babbling away, and her sleepy eyes pry open. She stares at me, but I don’t think she’s really looking at me, and when I lay her on my chest, cup her head, and cradle her, she settles and falls back to sleep.
I have this need to hold her tighter, kiss the top of her head, beg Anna to stay here forever because how am I supposed to let them go?
When I close the door, the girls are staring at me with indiscernible expressions. I can’t even begin to guess what they’re thinking.
“Ready.” Anna pats the duffle she’s carrying on her shoulder. She has one on each shoulder and a bookbag, while Maya only carries a suitcase and her purse.
“Here, let me.” I go to grab one, but she draws back.
She firmly clutches the handles of both. “I got it.”
I almost smile at her stubbornness. “Okay.”
Her brow furrows as her gaze descends to my lips as if she can sense that I’m trying to keep them flat. “We’re tired. Are we going in or what?”
“Come on.” I walk past her, and as I do, grab the strap of one, tugging it off her shoulder and draping it over mine.
“Sy—”
“Shhh, you’re going to wake up Rosie,” I whisper, moving forward, knowing they’re following behind me.
I’m sure her eyes are narrowed on the back of my head, annoyed with my insistence, but little does she know that this is only the beginning.
The entire ride up the elevator is quiet. Neither girl says anything, and Rosie is still sound asleep. When we enter my condo, I give them the quickest tour and show Maya to her bedroom.
I expect her to stay quiet, but she thanks me and offers me a small, friendly smile.
When it’s time to show Anna to her room, I can feel her physically stiffen. She freezes by the entryway, staring incredulously at the sage green–colored crib.
“No you didn’t. When? I—” she stammers, wide eyes fixed on me before returning to the crib. “Do you have another kid I don’t know about?”
I chuckle and step into the room, carefully laying Rosie down. It’s a little hard because she turns and slightly sits up before dropping down and falling back to sleep. Once I know she’s not going to wake up, I set the duffle on the dresser.
Anna’s still standing by the threshold, but her arms are folded against her chest, eyes hardened on the crib.
“What’s with the crib?” she whispers, arching a brow.
“I bought it for Rosie.” I stand beside her, and my eyes connect with her bewildered ones.
“Are you serious?” A disbelieving laugh slips out her mouth. “When?”
“I ordered it Sunday, and it got here yesterday,” I answer, amused, as she gapes at me.
“B-b—” She clamps her lips shut as Rosie twists and mumbles. We quietly exit into the hall. “But how? Why? I told you I wasn’t moving in with you. You can’t tell me you seriously believed I’d cave?”
“It was just in case…” I lift a shoulder in a half shrug. “I knew you wouldn’t move in with me, but life happens. I wanted to be prepared, show you that I’m serious. That I’m ready for her…for you.”
The hope in my voice is so painfully evident I know she feels it, hears the desperation, but she doesn’t meet my eyes anymore. Instead, she looks to her bedroom door.
“I need to shower.” She starts to retreat, but pauses before she disappears behind the door. “I know this was last-minute, but thanks for taking us in. I’m going to start looking around tomorrow for places. We won’t stay long, I promise.”
“Anna.” I almost take a step forward, hating the distance.
It’s a few feet but it feels like there’s miles plus a wall between us.
Still, I stay in my spot, knowing I need to give her her space.
“You can stay here for as long as you want. Actually, stay, please. I have the space. If you want Rosie to have her own room, she can have it. I put her crib in your room because I figured you’d want it in there. ”
I have four bedrooms, hers and Mayas are next to each other, and the other two—one being mine—are on the other side of the condo.
Her hand goes to the doorknob, but it drops to her side. “It’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?” I inch closer, just a little, enough to feel her warmth.
Those whiskey eyes drift to the gap and then lift to meet mine. “It’d be odd. What if you”—her irises darken, jaw clenching—“want to bring someone over? Or, I don’t know what you do in your spare time, but I’d hate to hide in my room all day.”
I take another step and drag my gaze over her face and body. I have every part of her memorized, but it’s not the same. It’s been years since I held her, inhaled her, slept beside her. I dream of doing it again.
“Yeah, it’d be odd.” One more step, but I freeze when she crosses her arms against her chest in a defensive way. Her face remains neutral, but I note the tinge of red on her cheeks.
“I know. Like I said, tomorrow I’ll—”
“It’d be odd if I brought someone home.”
Her hands almost untangle, but she firmly plants them back on her chest. “Don’t lie. We’re not together. I don’t care if you’ve been with other people.”
I scrub a palm over my mouth. “Ask me what I do in my spare time.”
Anna’s brows scrunch in. “No, I don’t need to know. I really need to shower.”
I’m suddenly much closer than I should be. I anticipate for her to back away, but she stays as she is.
“Ask me,” I softly implore.
The vexation on her face stays intact. Seconds tick by and just when I think she’ll leave, her mouth parts. “What do you do in your spare time?”
“Beg to whoever’s listening for more moments like this.” I tower over her, breathe her in. “With you and now with Rosie.”
“Don’t lie.” Her hands slip down, and her eyes soften until her irises are a shade lighter. I missed everything about her, but her eyes…How I missed the brown.
“I don’t gain anything from lying to you.
” I stretch my finger and have to hold my exhale when I feel her skin on the pad of my thumb.
She doesn’t jerk her hand away, only stares at me, but I can’t tell whether she’s hoping I let her go or wishing I don’t.
I pray it’s the latter. “But I would lose it all if I did.”
“Sylas…” Her voice starts strong but ebbs.
“I miss you.” I lift my hand, idly dragging the tips of my fingers over her own, then up her wrist to her arm. “Every day, all the time, I miss you. I can’t let go. I don’t want to. I need you.”
Her eyes flutter closed, but she stands tall, fisting her hands. “Don’t…”
“Don’t what?” I lean down, my lips just above her nose.
“I-I don’t know…” Anna’s eyes pop open and she tips her head back, locking her gaze with mine. “We can’t do this again.”
“Tell me to let go.” I slip the hand on her arm around her back, tugging her closer to my body. Home. If my heart were able, that’s what it would scream. “Tell me.”
Her lips part, and her eyes descend to my mouth. Mine follow hers. She swallows, and I follow suit, but it does nothing for my dry throat. It only becomes drier when she grows taller and I realize she’s standing on her tiptoes.
I dip my head, my lips a breath away from hers. “Tell me.”
Anna exhales a deep, resigned sigh, but she doesn’t pull back, she doesn’t speak. She stays as she is. I don’t let a second pass by before I’m trapping her lips to mine, but the moment is short-lived as a noise from Maya’s room startles her.
She flushes, brows arched high over impossibly wide eyes. “I need to shower,” she says before ducking into her room.
I touch my lips, hating that I don’t have the ability to freeze time.