Page 220 of Bound By Crimson
“I’m working on the property next door. I’m an architect. Just here for a month. Helping a buddy out with his family’sestate. Boring stuff. Stone walls, broken chimneys, drainage nightmares. But this wall caught my eye.”
Lyric stared at the wall like it might open up and swallow her.
She gripped the bench tighter.
He kept talking, filling the silence without pressing:
“Do you live here?”
She hesitated.
Her mouth was dry.
Her fingers tightened on the bench without meaning to.
She didn’t trust herself to say anything more, but somehow—
“It’s complicated,” she whispered.
He didn’t ask for more.
He didn’t push.
Just said:
“Maybe I’ll…hearyou again tomorrow. I come out here every night—watch the moon. It’s peaceful. But I would enjoy some company.”
Another pause.
“If you want.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No pressure,” he added, voice light.
Lyric didn’t answer.
But she didn’t leave, either.
She wasn’t sure if it was loneliness, desperation, or the gentleness in his voice—but something made her stay.
And for tonight, that was enough.
She hadn’t felt real kindness in so long, she didn’t know what to do with it.
It made her chest ache, caught between the hope of salvation and the fear of falling for a lie.
Hope was dangerous here, and she knew it.
Chapter Eighty-One
Sunlight Seeping In
It became a ritual.
First Noah.
Always Noah.
