Page 6 of Where the Dark Things Bloom

“For me to leave,” I muttered.

He didn’t believe me. Of course, he didn’t. He chuckled, low and wicked. “Nah, Trouble. You wished for that kiss you never got.”

“No.” My eyes snapped open, hands pushing against his chest.

But my heart didn’t listen. It sounded like it wanted to leap into his.

He came closer anyway. Fingers skimmed my jaw and lifted my chin.

“Who would’ve thought mysisterwould be the one to make my dick so fucking hard,“ he murmured.

“Ew. Gross.” I shoved him again. “Step-sister. Not sister. Huge difference.”

“I’m just teasing.” He leaned in again, eyes dropping to my lips. “But you just confirmed what I already knew.”

I stiffened. “And what’s that?”

He hissed softly, a grin spreading slowly like he had all the time in the world.

“You’re in love.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My thoughts fractured, like past and present bleeding together. And just like a snap something brought me back to the present.

Tears slipped down my cheeks again, uninvited.

God, I wished I could go back. Back to that night. Back to before everything shattered.

But I wasn’t there anymore.

I was here.Two years later.

In a cramped apartment with a man I didn’t love, holding a letter I didn’t expect, and a heart I wasn’t sure ever fully belonged to me.

I opened my eyes, now swollen and red.

The water in the sink had stopped. I moved the pot to the stove and turned on the heat. From the bedroom, I heard the radio click on—Troy’s post-shower routine.

Back to reality.

I bent down and picked up the letter from the floor. Folded it carefully and slid it into my pocket.

Then my phone rang.

A sharp sound, snapping me upright like an alarm clock. I walked to the living room and pulled the phone from my bag.

The screen glowed.

Familiar numbers.

Capital letters above:HOME.

I gasped. My fingers loosened, and the phone slipped.

How?

Who was calling me? Fromthere?

TWO

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