Page 23 of Jagged Burn
Her voice doesn’t shake.Mine does.Because she just chose me, in front of everyone, in front of him.And suddenly, I can’t hold back anymore.
“Anna.”I grab both her hands, needing her to feel this, to understand.“I’ve been running from this for years.From you.From what I feel.I thought my scars made me unworthy.I thought I’d ruin you.But tonight...”My voice breaks, raw.“Tonight, I realized I’d rather burn with you than live without you.”
Her eyes widen, filling with tears.
I keep going, the words tearing free like they’ve been caged too long.“I love you.I’ve always loved you.From the minute Matt dragged me into your house, and you sat on the porch with those pigtails and told me I was bossy.I thought it was wrong.I thought it was dangerous.But it’s the truest thing in my life.You’re it, Anna.You’re home.”
The medic mutters something about heart rates spiking, but I don’t care.My entire world is in her hands right now.
For a heartbeat, she just stares at me, tears sliding down her soot-streaked cheeks.Then she laughs, a shaky, beautiful sound.
“Took you long enough, Grey.”
And then her mouth is on mine, hard and desperate, in front of God and half the fire department.Cheers erupt around us, Matt whistles loudly, and someone yells something crude, but I don’t care.Her lips taste like smoke and survival and forever.
When we finally break apart, breathless, I rest my forehead against hers.“Say it back.Please.”
She smiles through her tears, fierce and certain.“I love you.Always have, always will.Jagged edges and all.”
My chest splinters open, relief and joy pouring out like floodwater.I scoop her into my arms, ignoring the blanket, ignoring the medic’s protest.She yelps, laughing, clutching at my neck.
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere you want,” I say, voice rough but steady.“As long as you’re with me.”
Because that’s the truth.The only truth that matters.We walk away from the wreckage together, hand in hand, fire behind us and the future ahead.And for the first time in my life, I don’t just fight the flames.I embrace them.
Epilogue
Forever, With Fire
Anna Alexander
Three months later, Kidds Beach feels different.
The house is gone, but Stefan and I have something better rising from the ashes.Literally.Construction crews are finishing the frame of a little cottage we designed together, our cottage.Every time I drive past, my heart swells.It’s not big or fancy, but it’s ours, and it’s going to smell like coffee and ocean air instead of smoke and fear.
