Page 63 of The Villain

Brandon.Fuck.I reached for the last one. I wanted to read what made her stop writing. I wanted to read the point where she realized I never deserved this treatment—this grace—and finally gave me her anger instead.

I still think of you when I look at the stars. Like my very own constellation of wishes and hopes and dreams for a long, long time. But now, I have to see them—and you—as you are.

A distant illusion. A memory. A ghost.

We see the light of a star long after the star itself has died. For too long now, I’ve looked for you; I’ve held onto your light. And now, it’s time to accept you’re not really there—here. I need to live my life, Darius. Not continue to wish on a world that’s nothing more than a galaxy of ghosts.

The letter fell from my fingers, the pain of her words making the whole of me ache. Like there was too much hurt to be contained in my bones.

I had to apologize.

Not for what happened then, but for how I acted today. She deserved the truth about how I’d failed. Why I was broken. Why I lashed out.

It was the least she deserved.

Unfortunately, it was the most I could give…it was all I had to give.

“Athena?” I rapped my knuckles on the door.

No response.

I waited another second and then tipped my ear closer. “Athena, it’s Dare.”Who the fuck else would it be?“Can we talk?”

Still no response.

Even angry, she’d at least answer me. My eyes shut as I knocked again, and the memory of her crumbling on the bathroom floor flashed in my mind.

“I’m coming in.” Within seconds, I pushed through the door and barreled into the bedroom. “Athena?” She wasn’t there. Not in the bathroom either. “Athena!”

Where the hell—I stopped short, a flicker of white catching my eye outside.

She couldn’t be outside.Shouldn’t be.It wasn’t safe.

I pushed open the door. “Athena.” Her name rode out on my exhale of relief, seeing her standing only a few feet in front of the cabin; her head had been tipped back until she heard me.

“Dare.” The shadows weren’t enough to hide the way her cheeks colored. She wrapped her arms over her front, cinching the long T-shirt at her middle and riding it higher on her bare thighs.

Dammit.

My cock hardened, the ends of my piercings snagging on my clothes, and I had to adjust myself immediately.Something she mercifully couldn’t see.

“What are you doing out here?” I grunted and took a step toward her, approaching like she was a wounded animal and I was the predator who’d mistaken her for prey.

Her lips parted and then shut again.She wasn’t sure.

“I just wanted some fresh air.”

“You shouldn’t be outside without…”Me,I wanted to say, but instead went with, “Anyone.”

I hated how her face fell, but it was the truth.

“Nine heel-toes,” she said quietly.

“What?”

“Nine heel-toes,” she repeated and then began to count, “One. Two.” With each number, she positioned her steps heel to toe, and I understood what she meant. “Three. Four.”

She’d counted the exact number of steps from the door to where she stood, so she knew how to get back.

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