Lucas.
Harper.
Caleb.
Each name seemed to carry an entire history behind it, and I felt as though I was slowly piecing together fragments of a life I had only ever seen the surface of.
How could she have carried all of this alone? And why had she never told me any of it before? Did she not trust me? Or had she been too afraid to let anyone see that part of her life?
When she finally finished speaking, her gaze dropped to the floor. Her hands quavered slightly in her lap. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to meet mine.
“Do you still want to be with me after knowing everything?”
The vulnerability in her voice cut straight through me.
Her chest caved inward, and her shoulders drooped under the weight of that fear.
In the span of an hour, I had learned almost everything about Jiya’s life. Her past had collided with her present in ways I had never imagined—truths she had never shared before, pieces of herself I had never asked her to explain.
And yet, as I sat there looking at her, only one thought echoed clearly in my mind.
She was as broken as I was.
Broken people save broken people.
Jiya had not just survived her past. She had built something meaningful in spite of it.
She had chosen to become a mother to Lucas. She had survived Jeremy. She had endured betrayal from Caleb and Harper. She had opened her heart again to Emma. She had fought to save the restaurant.
And along the way… she had saved me too.
I thought about the day she had checked on me when no one else had in months.
The way she had barged through my door without hesitation. The way she had stood beside me at the cemetery when I did not have the strength to face it alone. She had helped reconnect me with my brother. She had brought light back into parts of my life that had been buried under grief and isolation.
I was alive because of her.
I owed her far more than she would ever realize.
“I’m sorry for everything you have been through,” I said quietly, leaning forward as I gently took her hands in mine. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why didn’t you share this part about yourself?”
Her eyes dropped to the floor again.When she finally looked back up, they were filled with tears.“I thought I would lose you like I lost everything else in my life,” she whispered, sniffling. “I’m sorry.”
A painful ache twisted through me at the fear in her voice.
Without thinking, I slid off the couch and knelt in front of her.
“I love you,” I said, cupping her face gently in my hands.
Her lips parted in surprise, and her eyes widened.
“I’ve been in love with you for a while now,” I continued. “I’ve been miserable for the past couple of days knowing that I hurt you and caused you pain, even though I promised myself that I would never do that. I want you more than I want air to breathe. I?—”
Her lips brushed against mine before I could finish speaking.
The contact was soft and fleeting at first, like the delicate touch of butterfly wings, just long enough for me to inhale the heat of her breath.
Then the kiss intensified.
