Page 72 of Our Little Moments

Sheer panic makes my blood freeze and I can barely function. Raindrops start falling.

Please, if a storm is about to hit, let it be far from the girls . . .

“Adrian,” Stella says, this time with a firm grip on my wrist.

How did she catch up so fast?

“Adrian, look at me.”

I look at her, raindrops falling into my eyes.

“You know just as well as I do that this isjust rain. There won’t be a storm. You can calm down, it’s all okay.”

Her eyes are steady, unwavering, even as the rain drenches us both.

I can’t breathe.

“I have to stop it,” I say, my voice void of any emotion as I reach out with my magic to reach the storm.

“Wait,” Stella says softly. Her steadiness fades away and she turns nervous. “Adrian . . . I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I have to say it. Your panic around storms is because of your grief. You can’t keep going through life like this, bursting into panic the second you hear thunder or see rain fall from the sky.”

“Then what do you expect me to do, Stella?” I ask hopelessly. “I can’t . . . I can’t let this take away someone else I love.”

Her smile turns soothing. “This is barely a storm, Adrian. It’s just a little rain.”

I look around again. She has a point, dammit.

The gentle rain surrounds us, with gray clouds above us. There hasn’t been any lightning yet and I know there won’t be any. I can feel it through my magic now that the panic has faded away.

I groan and sit back down.

Stella joins me, her hand covering mine. I look back into her gentle eyes.

“You can’t let this keep holding you back, Adrian. You deserve a chance to move forward.” She seems to think something through. A smile blossoms on her face as she extends her hands. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

I chuckle despite myself. “You’re seriously going to give me that cliché line?”

She grins at me, the raindrops streaking down her face. “I’mseriouslygoing to give you that cliché line.”

As I grab her hand and she helps pull me up, she says softly, “You deserve to heal. Maybe this is your first step.”

And with that, she leads me into the rain.

For a second, I hesitate, my feet unsure, but then she pulls me close, twirling me just slightly off balance. I laugh, feeling that heavy weight lift from my chest. I spin her back around, and for the first time in what feels like forever, Idon’tthink about the storm. I justfeel.

We’re idiots. We’re soaked—laughing like fools—but this moment? It belongs to us. Just her and me.

I’m spinning her again, her hair flying in the rain, her face full of that uncontained joy. And for the first time in so long, I think maybe I can breathe again. Maybe I can let go of the guilt.

As we dance together, the clouds slowly drift away, leaving in their wake the pale glimmers of a rainbow.

I smile at the sight.

God, my life really will never be the same after Stella.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chapter 28

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