Page 41 of One Night Only

I don’t tell him that what he’s promising isn’t possible. For once, I own who I am, flaws and warts and all.

I’m Annika Rao and I’m alive, lucky, and crazy enough to fall in love at first sight with the most wonderful man in the world.

Chapter Eighteen

Ethan

Steam clingsto my skin as I towel off.

But it can’t melt the icy fist at my core as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Dawn has given way to a new day, and there’s just over an hour until I have to meet Mom’s consultant.

It’s enough time to wake Ani, to have breakfast together, to ask her… What though? If she’ll be here when I get back? If she wants to spend a few more days with me in our universe?

Do the words she whispered to me when she thought I was asleep, or the way she made love to me at dawn—because that’s exactly what she did—hold weight in the light of the day?

I scrape a hand down my face, sighing, because I know the answer.

She made it clear from the start that she wants only one night. If I push past the walls she’s erected around herself, there’s every possibility that the fragile defenses she needs to function might shatter.

My stomach tightens at the very idea of causing her pain.

What I need is more time to pull each brick out of those walls slowly. More time where we can lose ourselves to the mind-blowing passion between us, without thinking of a label or an expiration date. For all I’ve been arrogant that I control my own fate now, I can’t give her—and us—that time right now.

She’s leaving for Seattle soon. I still have things to settle in New York. And before I can start on that, Mom needs me here. She’ll have the best resources for her recovery, but I don’t want to leave her alone for a while.

That means sticking by whatever Annika decides. A savage helplessness fills me at the thought because her decision, I know in my veins, won’t be good for us. For who we are meant to be. For the future I see for us.

Heart sitting in my throat, I dress in jerky, uncoordinated movements. It takes me three tries to clasp my wristwatch, and I nearly slice through my jaw as I shave. The aftershave bottle falls to the marble floor with a loud thud, and I finally give up.

There’s a hollow ache in my chest, worse than anything I’ve ever known. But I also feel more alive than I have in years.

The first thing I notice when I step into the bedroom is the storm. Or rather, the lack of it. The city outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is washed clean, damp streets gleaming under the suddenly bright winter sun.

The world looks different. New. As if it’s standing in solidarity with me.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turn and search for those naked limbs on the bed.

Annika isn’t there.

A soft laugh catches my attention, and I walk out.

Two men flank her in the sitting lounge.

One is tall, white, and looks like he belongs on the runway, looking malnourished and haughty. This one’s Zach. The other man is brown, heftily built, and looks like a real version of a fairy-tale teddy bear with warm brown eyes and a soft smile—clearly her ex, Rahul.

The two men are talking over each other, hands gesturing, voices rising and falling with urgency. Ani, head jerking between them, doesn’t look like she’s mad or heartbroken.

I stop in my tracks, watching. Ready to pounce to her defense or to just hold her if she needs that. It would be comical how much of a goner I am for this beautiful girl if our coming separation wasn’t crushing my chest like an anvil.

She laughs suddenly, a breathless sound that does things to me.That laughter is mine, some strange combination of ego and masculinity says in my head.

Rahul has tears in his eyes as he pulls her in for a hug. The other man wraps his bony arm around them both until she’s trapped in between them. My sweet girl, as tall as them, rolls her eyes but lets them hold her, expression soft.

I exhale at the knowledge that while the idiots hurt her last night, they care about her.

Zach says something, Rahul blushes, and Ani smacks him on his chest. All three of them laugh, and I have a sinking sensation that I know what the tall one suggested.

At that moment, I feel removed. Distanced. As if I’m an alien from another planet, making first contact with a new species, and watching their weird rituals.

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