Page 13 of Scarred

FIVE

CAYDEN

I watch Luna smile at my daughter again, and the tight pressure I’ve felt in my chest from the moment I saw her squeezes harder.

My hands curl into fists as emotions I never thought I would feel again rise to the surface.

I should be focused on my daughter right now.

I should be in control and numb, like I have been for the past two years.

Instead…

Instead, something stirs deep inside, awakening parts of me that have been lying dormant.

I know she feels me staring, but I could no more look away than never touch my blades to ice again.

Her brunette hair is pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and I find myself wanting to set it free, seeing how it feels to run my fingers through it.

It’s her eyes, though, that scare me the most. They feel too familiar…too much like a home I once had.

Those deep emeralds have the ability to draw me in, and I’m afraid of what might happen if they do.

Dragging my ballcap down further, I hide in the shadows where I know how to exist.

Where things are quiet…controlled.

Safe.

But there is nothing quiet or safe about her. She’s a whirlwind of beauty and destruction—the most perfect storm—and if I’m not careful, I’ll find myself right in her direct path.

I watch the flurry of tutus hang on her every word as she guides them in a twirl. It’s easy to see that they adore her. There is an energy about her that is infectious, and I find myself wanting to lean into the pure goodness of it all.

Finally, the class is over, and my tense body begins to relax. The faster I get away, the faster I can ignore the way my pulse beats a little stronger whenever she glances my way.

I’ve done heartbreak before and carry the scars heavily on my soul.

Not the kind that breaks you for a few days or even months.

The kind that breaks you. Period.

It’s bad enough that my heart is walking around outside of my body with Scarlett, paralyzing me with fear that something might happen to her.

I can’t go through it again.

I won’t.

No matter what my body is screaming at me to take.

“Daddy!” Scarlett pulls me out of my thoughts, and I smile as her blond curls come flying my way in an excited hurry. “I got a fairy gift!” She holds up the pink jeweled bracelet on her little wrist.

“Wow. That’s a nice gift. You must have been a very good student today.”

“She was,” I hear softly, looking up to meet Luna standing there. “I was her age when I started dancing, and I can tell she has something special.” She smiles at Scarlett as I stand up, taking my daughter’s small hand in mine. “Will we see you next week?”

Her eyes search mine, and for a minute, I think of finding another dance studio. Preferably one that doesn’t have a teacher with cute freckles across her nose or a smile that makes me forget about the pain in my past. Not to mention a body that has put images in my head and a thirst that I’m not sure will ever be quenched.

“I’m out of town next week,” I find myself saying, unable to fully sever the connection just yet. “I’ll see if her great-grandma can take her.”