Page 26 of Pastel Kisses

My name.

I snap to attention.

“…no leads in the disappearance of Avery Dawson, the local woman who vanished nearlyfour months ago.”

Four months.

The words hit like a wrecking ball, slamming into my chest and knocking the air from my lungs.

The room tilts.

My ears ring.

Four months. Not weeks. Months.

The time I spent with the guys before all of this happened—before my world shattered—is now equal to the time I’ve been missing.

That realization slams into me like a freight train, knocking the breath from my lungs.

I counted every moment I had with them, memorized every touch, every whisper, every stolen glance. Those months had beeneverything—a whirlwind of passion, discovery, and an intensity I never knew was possible. We had only just begun carving out a life together, learning each other’s rhythms, intertwining our souls.

And now?

Now, I’ve beengonejust as long as I wastheirs.

The weight of it presses against my chest, suffocating.

Have I already become more of amemorythan a reality? Have the spaces I once filled been smoothed over, my presence replaced by the cruel hand of time?

Or worse—byher?

I squeeze my eyes shut, shoving that thought deep into the pit of my mind where it belongs.

No.

Irefuseto believe that.

I have to hold on to something—to the possibility that what we had, what webuiltin those months, is strong enough to survive this nightmare. That theystillfeel me in every room I once stood in, that my absence is a raw, open wound they refuse to let scar over.

But doubt creeps in like a thief, whispering insidious thoughts into my already fractured mind.

Time changes things.

I’m living proof of that.

Before, I was vibrant, alive,free. Now, I’m a prisoner—weak, weary, and shackled in more ways than one.

How long until the guys stop searching? Until the exhaustion of endless dead-ends breaks them?

How long until my name fades from their lips, my face from their memory?

How long until Ilose them forever?

No.

I grit my teeth, pressing a hand against my stomach, grounding myself in theoneundeniable truth.

I have something worth fighting for.

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