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She walks into the kitchen.

I immediately become aware of every inch of space between us.

It’s pathetic.

I stood in front of something ancient enough to have forgotten its own name. I watched the Earth split open. I spent two hundred and thirty-five years trapped on the same piece of land.

Sage McBride walks barefoot into a kitchen and I forget how to fucking breathe.

She stops across from me. “Where is everyone?”

“Mercy’s sleeping.”

“Kai?”

“Outside.”

“Rhett?”

“God knows.”

Her mouth twitches. “So we’re alone.”

There it is.

“Yes.”

Sage nods slowly.

Then she walks around the counter.

I set my coffee down. “Sage.”

“What?”

“Don’t start.”

She stops.

The hurt that flashes across her face makes me immediately regret the word.

But she covers it quickly.

“Okay.” She turns away.

Fuck.

“Sage.”

“No.” She lifts one hand. “You said don’t start. I’m respecting that.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

She turns back around. “Then what did you mean?”

I have no answer that doesn’t sound exactly as fucked up as it is.

She waits.