Page 69 of Icebound Hearts

We get to our seats and I realize just how close we are to the stage. I hadn’t noticed when I bought the tickets.

Kat turns in a slow circle, taking it all in. “This is insane. We’re so close. You must’ve spent—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Aiden.”

I look at her, dead serious. “You’re worth it.”

She blinks like she doesn’t know what to say, then stands on her tiptoes and kisses me. Not just a peck—a soft, slow kiss that says she feels everything I feel. That her heart’s racing too.

The lights dim. People start screaming.

Kat included.

She grabs my hand, and the first note rings out across the venue—low, echoing, hypnotic.

The band walks out, and the entire crowd dissolves into silence. Then applause. Then silence again.

It’s the most peaceful chaos I’ve ever seen.

She knows every word.

I don’t know all the songs, but I don’t care. I spend more time watching her than the stage.

She sings, sways, whispers lyrics under her breath. Her thumb brushes the back of my hand again and again, like she can’t stop touching me, like she doesn’t want to let go. And when they start “Apocalypse,” she turns to me, her lips already moving before she leans in.

“This one’s my favorite,” she whispers against my ear. “It reminds me of you.”

I swallow hard, then smile. “Yeah?”

She nods, her nose brushing mine. “Every time I hear it. It’s like… how I feel when I’m around you.”

My heart slams against my ribs. “I don’t think anyone’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

She smiles. “Good. I like being your first.”

Then she kisses me—slow, deep, deliberate. I feel her heartbeat in her lips, in her fingers, in the way she presses into me like the rest of the world has fallen away.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer.

She doesn’t let go for a long time.

After the encore, we stay in our seats even as the crowd starts to thin out. Kat tugs the hoodie sleeves down over her hands and leans her head on my shoulder.

“I’m never forgetting tonight,” she says quietly.

“Good,” I say. “Neither am I.”

She turns to look at me. “Why’d you do all this?”

I think about it. I could joke. Deflect. Say something easy.

But I don’t want to.

I look her in the eyes and say, “Because I’ve never wanted to try this hard with anyone. Ever. And you… you make me want to be better. You make me want more.”

She stares at me, her bottom lip quivering slightly.

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