Page 27 of Priest

I tell them about the nights that felt easy. About laughing in the dark. About the way he listened without prying. How the space he gave me felt like freedom instead of distance.

“Then Sadie showed up,” I say, the name souring slightly in my mouth.

Lila’s brow furrows. “Who’s Sadie?”

“History,” I say. “The kind you can feel without being told. She’d known him forever. And she knew exactly how to stand where I couldn’t.”

Evan hums. “That’s never a good sign.”

“She didn’t do anything subtle,” I add. “That was almost worse. She was always there. Touching him. Putting herself in his space like she already belonged there.”

Evan grimaces. “Bold.”

“Calculated,” I say. “Like she knew exactly what she was doing and didn’t care if I saw it.” I pause, breath catching just slightly. “And then he announced she was pregnant.”

Lila’s brows knit. “Was it his?”

I swallow. “From the conversation I overheard… yeah. I’m pretty sure, and he announced it to his whole club.”

Evan tilts his head. “Pretty sure—or know?”

“I overheard them,” I say quietly. “In his office. She said she was pregnant, and he told her he’d take care of her. Of the baby. He said it like it was settled. Like it was his responsibility. She said the baby connected them forever.” The memory tightens something in my chest, even now. “So when he stood up in front of the whole club and announced it…” I trail off, then finish, “I filled in the rest. I thought she finally got him into bed. That whatever rules he had for me didn’t apply to her.”

Lila reaches for my hand.

“That’s when I knew I’d already lost,” I say. “Not just to the rules. To her. To the way he’d already decided where I fit, and where I didn’t.”

I tell them how I left. How I ordered a ride and didn’t look back. How I blocked him. Then I laugh quietly. “I unblocked him later.”

Evan perks up. “Oh, I can already tell this is going to be good.”

“I sent one text,” I say. “I told him we’d hit our expiration date. That it was good while it lasted.”

“Really?” Lila laughs.

“And I said… Have a sweet life.”

There’s a beat. Then Evan absolutely loses it.

“Oh my God,” he wheezes. “That is unhinged. That is polite violence.”

Lila laughs too, shaking her head. “What did he say?”

“He said something vaguely threatening,” I admit. “In a way that wasn’t actually threatening. Kind of hot, actually. Then I said, ‘Gotta go. Bye.’ And blocked him again.”

Evan wipes his eyes. “Iconic.”

The laughter fades into something softer, and Lila looks down at her hands. “I loved a biker once.”

Evan stills. I turn toward her.

“He was my brother’s best friend,” she says quietly. “One night. That was all I got. He left the next morning and never came back.”

My chest tightens.

“He left me with Jade, though,” Lila continues. “He doesn’t know. Or maybe he does and just… stayed gone. Either way, we haven’t seen him since and I have my sixteen year old love of my life, or second love of my life.”

Evan reaches over and squeezes her knee. “Men are idiots.”