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Questions about the residencies looped through Charlotte’s mind, each one edged in desperation. Would she really leave? Even with what burned between them. There was nothing fake about the touches… the gazes… the feelings. There hadn’t been for a long while. It was real. At least, it was for Charlotte.

Heart racing, the question tore free, breaking the soft quiet lingering around them.

“What are your plans?”

A line formed between Ali’s brows as she dug through her bag for her keys. “For tonight or tomorrow?”

Fuck no, you know what I mean. Charlotte snapped in her head.

“You mentioned residencies,” Charlotte clarified, mouth dry as they reached Ali’s car.

“Oh, yeah,” Ali unlocked her car, turning to face her. “Some I applied to ages ago. They’re hard to get. But… since I don’t know where I’m headed I thought, it might help me decide.”

Her hand dropped to her side, already missing Ali’s warmth.

“Where are they?”

Ali hesitated, nails picking at the tiny bumps on her arm. “New York, California, Miami, Germany, or London.”

Charlotte’s chest tightened, her lungs constricting, voice no more than a low dewy rasp as she pressed on. “When?”

“November or January.”

The words struck, hard. But Charlotte drew closer, taking Ali’s nervous hands in her own. “I assume any would be career-changing?” she asked, voice steady enough to hide the crack splintering through her heart.

Ali’s mouth lifted faintly. “They’d look good on my CV. The art I’d make there, maybe?”

Charlotte took step after step until Ali’s back thudded against the car. One palm nestled along Ali’s cheek, thumb brushing over the soft contours.

“You’re brilliant, Alina. Everything you are is magic.”

Adoration.

Ali’s hands slid up her arms, curling behind her neck, pulling her down. Their lips met, gentle, and whisper soft. The kind of kiss that unraveled thought. Charlotte’s hand found her hip, fingers tracing the curve beneath silk as Ali’s fingers tangled in her hair.

A low sound spilled between them.

Yearning.

The ache in Charlotte’s chest deepened. She couldn’t fight it, the desperate aching wish to hold onto the person who made everything bright. Ali gave her the courage and space to be spontaneous and try new things. She worried less. Was more herself. All the reasons to keep herself so controlled and stifled seemed irrelevant in Ali’s presence because she was safest with her… Ali never expected her to be perfect.

“Stay,” Charlotte breathed against her lips, voice cracking.

Ali’s breath stuttered in her throat.

But she couldn’t ask this free creature to clip her wings if she wanted to fly.

Charlotte closed her eyes. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. If leaving meant happiness for Ali, she’d let her go.

But not yet. Not tonight.

So she rephrased, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Stay with me tonight.”

19

ALI

Risk assessment was something Ali considered herself rather skilled at. Each move she made held its own liability. Certain jobs in specific locations. More and more leaving her fate up to destiny felt like a risk. At what point should she ignore the winds blowing and buffeting and make the decision to stay or go herself? When did she decide, this is where she wanted to build her nest and plant her roots?