Page 164 of Break Me

She shifts closer. Until her side presses against mine, her head resting lightly against my shoulder.

My breath falters.

I turn slightly toward her, my arm coming around her without thinking, pulling her in, settling her against me in the place that belongs to her.

Her hand stays in mine. Her other settles on my chest.

“Sam,” she says quietly.

I tighten my hold on her just a fraction, my chin dipping toward her hair.

“Yeah, sweetheart.”

Her voice is softer when she speaks again.

“This,” she says, and I feel the way her fingers press slightly against me, like she’s grounding herself in it. “This is what I’m going to miss the most.”

Something in my chest pulls so tight it almost feels like it tears.

My arm tightens around her before I can stop it, pulling her closer, like I can keep her here if I just don’t let go.

She looks up at me. Her eyes find mine just as a tear slides down her cheek, slow and unsteady. She doesn’t stop it, doesn’t even blink it back.

Just lets it fall.

“Hold me tighter,” she whispers. “So I don’t forget.”

“I’ve got you,” I say, my voice rough against her, barely holding together.

“I know,” she says softly.

I pull her closer, as close as I can get her. If I can just keep her here, pressed into me like this, nothing else will reach us.

My face stays buried in her hair, my hand spreads wide against her back, holding her there, feeling every breath she takes like it matters more than anything else in the world.

I don’t notice it at first.

Just the burn behind my eyes. The break in my breath.

And then I stop fighting it.

I let it happen.

I let the tears fall, silent and steady, slipping into her hair, into the space between us where everything else already feels like it’s coming undone.

I don’t make a sound.

I don’t let go.

I just hold her.

And let it happen where she can’t see it.

Raven

His hand closes around mine as he pulls me into him. His body is warm and solid. The familiar weight of his arm settles at my back as the music moves through us, something slow and steady, and I fall into it easily, my body finding the rhythm like it’s something we’ve done a hundred times before.

I let my head tip back and take him in. The world narrows down to his face. To the way he’s looking at me like I’m the only thing that matters in his world.