Page 36 of Jetmir

My steps froze. No. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Anya!”

The voice came again, but this time it was closer.

I slowly turned to see Jetmir running toward me, rain dripping from his hair and sluicing down his expensive suit. My hair was getting drenched and my dress clung to my body like a second skin. It was neither attractive nor comfortable.

Yet, I still stood there motionless.

People nearby threw glances at us, but he only looked at me. Just like before. He always only looked at me and reluctantly my mind flickered to the last time we were rained out.

It seemed like a different lifetime when I looked at him and the world with stars in my eyes

The last of our dinner disappeared just as the first drops of rain tapped against the white tablecloth.

I looked up at the sky, noting soft gray clouds had rolled over the old rooftops of Vlorë’s historic quarter. The warm summer evening hadn’t lost its charm. It’d simply changed. The air smelled of the sea and wet stone, and a cool breeze brushed against my skin.

“It looks like we finished our dinner right on time,” I said with a laugh.

Thorne smiled as he reached for the bills. I watched him thank the waiter. He reached for me and my hand slipped into his effortlessly, loving the way his warm fingers curled around mine.

The raindrops came down faster the second we stepped off the restaurant terrace.

We laughed as we hurried through the narrow cobblestone streets, weaving between the old stone buildings while the summer shower soaked us within seconds. My pink dress that reached down to my knees with thin straps that came off my shoulders was soon soaked, clinging to my legs while strands of hair stuck to my cheeks,

I stopped in the middle of the street, smiling with my face tilted up at the sky.

“What are you doing?” Thorne asked, laughing.

“I want to dance in the rain,” I exclaimed, grinning happily.

I slipped off my shoes. He took them from me, looping them over a finger without ever letting go of my hand. Smiling, I spun beneath the rain, dancing as though the world had disappeared around us. There was no music, only the song in my heart, accompanied by the steady rhythm of raindrops drumming against the ancient cobblestones.

I twirled and twirled, loving the feel of the cool drops dancing across my skin as I danced barefoot over the slick cobblestones, laughing carefree and happy. There was nothing except the rain, this man, and the feeling of being completely alive.

I looked at Thorne who stood there, watching me. His suit was soaked, dark hair plastered to his forehead, but the expression on his face made my heart stumble.

He was happy. The way he looked at me made the whole world disappear.

“What?” I asked, still grinning. “If we’re getting soaked anyway, we might as well dance.”

He shook his head slowly, his fingers tightening around mine.

“It makes me happy to see you happy,” he said quietly.

My cheeks warmed despite the rain.

“I’m happy to be with you,” I whispered, my voice barely above a breath. “If I could spend forever anywhere, I’d choose wherever you are. As long as I’m with you, I’m already home.”

He laughed as I tugged him closer, and a second later he was spinning me around and dancing with me in the rain while the old streets of Vlorë shimmered beneath us.

Yanked back to the present as thunder cracked across the sky.

My heart betrayed me with one painful beat. Sometimes I wished I couldn’t remember.

He stopped a few feet away, chest rising violently as raindrops trickled down his face.

For a long moment neither of us spoke.