Page 36 of The Night We Finally Break

“Fucking mine.”

Mya whimpered, looking like a boneless sticky mess that took my breath away.

“Color, Sunshine?”

“A million different shades of green.” She sighed, content and very sleepy.

“You were perfect for me.” I brushed her hair back. “So good for me.”

She was still pretty boneless as I carried her toourbed. I could tell by the way she barely moved when I pressed the warm cloth against her thighs. Her eyes were half-lidded, her head tilted back with a small smile.

I kneeled in front of her quietly, soaking another cloth in warm water and brushing it over the marks on her inner thighs, the small bruises already forming and the tiny scab.

“You’re okay, baby,” I murmured. “I’m right here.”

She blinked slowly, the way someone does when they’re coming back to themselves. Her fingers flexed again, and I caught them in my own, kissing the tops of each knuckle one by one.

I dried her off and lotioned her skin. Checked every mark I’d left, every place I’d pushed her too far to make sure she knew I saw all of it. That I loved all of it. The bruises. The raw edges. The beautiful, wrecked girl who gave herself over to me like I was worth being worshipped when, in truth, she was the one I was worshipping.

When I stood, she moved forward instinctively. Her arms wrapped weakly around my wrist, and her cheek pressed against my thigh, and for a second, I couldn’t move.

God, she was everything.

I rolled her over and laid down next to her with the kind of care I hadn’t known I had in me until her. She reached for me instantly again, like muscle memory.

“You okay, Sunshine?” I asked gently, my lips against her forehead.

She mumbled a quiet ‘yes’, and if I didn’t know her enough, I might have thought she was lying. But she wasn’t. “You did so fucking good. I’m proud of you.”

Her breath caught, and she moved even closer. “I feel safe with you,” she whispered. “Like… all the noise goes quiet.”

That hit me harder than it should have. Because I knew what she meant. That noise, the storm in your head that never really shut off. The one we talked about the first night we met. How we both lived with it, just in different ways.

“Same here,” I admitted. “You turn everything down.”

She went quiet for a while. Just breathing. Letting me hold her. Aftercare was sacred, and for Mya, that meant feeling needed and safe. Knowing that I wasn’t leaving her. It wasn’t always words with her. It was actions. Like me holding her.

“You okay?” I asked again after a while, brushing my nose against her temple.

“Yeah.” Her voice was a little stronger now. “I think I dropped a little. But I feel better.”

I nodded. “That’s normal, Sunshine. You went deep tonight.”

“I like when you take me there. I’ve never trusted anyone like this before,” she whispered. “Not even myself.”

I exhaled slowly, trying to keep it together, but my throat was already tight. “Mya…”

She looked at me, waiting. She didn’t ask me to say anything and didn’t need a confession or some romantic speech. But I had one anyway. “You see me. The ugly parts, the past, the control, the way I need things a certain way just to stay steady. And you don’t run. Not even on the first night. The night that I poured everything out to you because I thought I’d never fucking see you again.” I swallowed hard, my hand resting over her heart. “And somewhere in the middle of all that… I fell in love with you.”

Her eyes instantly filled. I brushed my thumb under her cheekbone, catching the first tear before it could fall. “You don’t have to say it back,” I added quickly. “I didn’t say it to hear it. I said it because it’s true.”

“I’d be lying if I said a part of me didn’t fall for you the second you brushed my hair out of my face that night we met.” She paused, swallowing hard. “We made that stupid pact. One night, no strings, but the whole time, I was already trying to figure out how I’d walk away without falling apart. How I’d pretend like it didn’t kill me.” She looked up at me, her voice quieter now. “I fell for someone I’d known for an hour… and now? Now it’s not evena question. It’s deeper. It’s real. And I am so fucking sure that I love you.”

She loved me. Despite all the reasons I gave her not to. Despite my past. My temper. My broken edges and the weight I still carried. She saw it all, and she still chose me.

I kissed her softly this time, nothing like before. When I finally pulled back, her smile was waiting for me, and mine met hers without even trying.

It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. Her head was on my chest, curled into the side of me, and somehow it felt like she always belonged there. Bear was sprawled out across her feet, like even he knew she belonged here. And as I lay there, staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but think of how far I’d come. This wasn’t how I thought my life would go. But then again, I never thought I’d get a second chance at it.