Page 125 of Zayrik

I clenched my jaw, voice rough. “Yeah.”

Her fingers curled slightly against my shirt.

Not holding, just feeling.

Learning what it meant to touch something that wouldn’t vanish.

“Why?”

The question carried years of abandonment.

Of learning not to expect anyone to stay.

My pulse kicked.

I could have lied. Could have deflected.

Could have given her the easy answer.

But we were past that now.

Past pretending this was anything less than life-changing.

I covered her hand with mine.

Felt the way she tensed and then softened.

“Because I don’t know how to walk away from you. Not now. Not ever.”

Her breath caught.

I felt it.

Felt everything.

Saw the flicker of something vulnerable.

Something real.

She swallowed. “Zayrik...”

My name on her lips like a prayer.

I tipped my head, voice low. “You gonna stay?”

Not a challenge.

A final chance to choose.

She lifted her chin. Met my gaze.

And said the one thing I hadn’t expected. But hoped.

“Yes.”

That was all it took.

One word.

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