Page 31 of The Fate Of Us

I breathed out a laugh when the kitchen door closed and I heard a muffled ‘OW’ comefrom behind it, before turning around and picking up the cocktail I’d abandoned and taking a savouring sip, the mix of sweet and sour liquor gliding down my throat.

The orange haze of the sunset had been replaced with a lilac and navy fusion in thetime the girls had arrived, the stars freckling the clouds like the lit windows of the skyscrapers were. As I was getting lost in the view, I noticed a glow in the reflection, as if the sun had somehow risen after falling behind the buildings. But when she stepped closer, her body became clearer, and the white dress that clung to her curves became unmissable.

I dipped my head as a humourless smile crowded my face.

Of course she’s wearing that fucking dress.

So much irony was held in the seams of that dress. It’s the thing that calms my heart whenmy breathing gets out of control. It’s also the thing that makes me want to rip it off her and set it on fire because of how much it still controls me.

Reluctantly, my eyes glide up Addy’s reflection as she finds a place next to me by thecoffee table. Her feet are covered in white ballet flats and the frilly socks she wears, because no matter how many times she wears them, they still hurt her ankles. The dress starts where it always does, in the middle of her thighs. It cinches her in at the waist, a cruel reminder that that was where my hands used to cinch her, too. My eyes don’t stop roaming as they hover over her chest, glistening just like her thighs were.

Then comes the hardest part, as they glide over her face and watch as her freckledcheeks fall, her glossy smile disappearing in the window’s glare as her magma eyes meet mine.

Your smile deserves to fall when you see me, I think to myself.

But when my eyes drop hers and I take in that dress and the way that each time shewears it it only moulds around her curves better than it did before, that smirk begins to curl on her face again, remindingherthat she’ll always have the power to make me weak.

Despite everything she did, every lie that slipped from those lips that are grinning at me, she knows my heart will always have her name etched into every corner of it.

I think that’s why I still hate her—because I can’t find it in me to erase her name forgood.

“Hi,” Addy whispers, in a way that would have made a younger Nate go feral once upon a time.Her voice was low and sultry and everything it shouldn’t be.

“Hey,” I mutter back, slightly raising my glass to her before turning to distract myselfwith the other mesmerising view.

“You look good,” she admits, the tapping of her ballet flats making my spine stiffen. Idon’t budge, not until I can see the puddles of ivory and orange in my peripheral, following her as she bends down to pick up a glass from the table.

“Thank you.” I gritted out, catching her stare as she stood straighter.

It’s like that’s all we have the energy for nowadays—four sentences of small talkbefore we have to take a breather. All it takes is a few seconds for silence to engulf us. It was our favourite way to exist around each other. There’s no risk of someone saying something they shouldn’t or, even worse, uttering an apology that would arguably make things more awkward.

Of course, we were both stubborn.

Anyway, after all this time, I was positive an apology from her wouldn’t cut it. Thecut-off time for that was about twenty seconds before I left for college, watching her cry as I drove away. She didn’t deserve to cry over missing me. She lost the right to do that the moment she kissed—

“How are you?”

My head bolts to her. “What?” I ask pointedly, harsher than I admittedly should of,given the way I feel my brows are pulled in and how she’s shaking her head and blowing out a laugh.

“Someone asks how you are, and you act like they’re asking you to sacrifice your firstbornchild? Classy.”

I shake my head at her. “No, I just didn’t expect—”

Her voice was so quiet and controlled as she shot back, “Expect what? Me not to ask how you’re holding up on the one day of the year Iknow for a fact you despise more than anything?” Her gaze gets fiery, more so than it already is, before the rim of the glass meets her plump lips, her eyes fluttering as she takes a sip.

“I don’t know why I bother sometimes, Nate.” She slams the now-empty glass backon the table with gentle force before smoothing out the front of her dress and turning away from me.

She only makes it three steps away from me before I regain the confidence herpresence made disappear, and I call after her. “Youknowwhy you bother, Adaline.”

The tap of her shoes halts, and I have to relish the way I watch her shoulders tense upas my words reach her.

I guess I still hold power over you, too, Firefly.

I drop my glass next to hers, my feet finding the strength to take me to her, painfullyslowly. “I know it, too.” I hush out, my heart rate doing what it does best whenever she’s at the centre of my attention.

Somehow, my feet get me directly behind her, the tips of my shoes touching the backsof hers, her back practically cradled into my white button-down. I perch my head over her shoulder, knowing full well how crazy this used to make her.

“It’s the same reason you wear that fucking dress every chance you get. Everybirthday, whether I’m there or not.” My hand raises and pulls back the strand of fire that covers her ear, making sure she hears every syllable, so it haunts her dreams tonight.

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