Page 140 of Through the Flames
Ordinary morning sounds, disguising the fact that reputations were collapsing a few streets over.
Behind me, Ella lingered in the hall. Silent. Probably trying to process what she already knew to be true. She didn’t have proof, but she knew.
No words were needed. She could see how far I’d gone, how obsessed I was with her, and that I wouldn’t stop at anything. At long last, she understood.
I’d keep my promises and protect her. Ella wasn’t just mine in theory: she was mine through every action I took in a world trying to break her spirit.
Her lips parted and a quiet half-smile formed as she allowed herself to feel it.
Through the look she gave me, I felt it too: her trust, her appreciation, and her love. It was a love sharpened by her understanding I meant everything I said and my willingness to do whatever it took for her, without hesitation or compromise.
And the crazy thing was, not only did she accept my brand of love, she embraced it, craved it even. My Blaze was truly made for me.
Ella stepped fully into the kitchen then, brushing past me, and our eyes met again. Everything between us was understood without a single syllable.
People like me weren’t supposed to get things like this, this deep trust and unconditional love. But she gave me both, and in return, I gave her everything.
Even the parts of me that should’ve been locked away.
Forty One
Ella
Summer Break
After our trip to Georgia, one thing was clear: leaving Hunter was never an option. So when life twisted in a new direction after just two years at BRU, I twisted with it.
If you’d told me a year ago, I’d be sitting in a fancy condo in Louisiana and unpacking boxes, I would’ve laughed. Or maybe cried.Probably both.
I might’ve told you that my life had become an unexpected plot twist, one I hadn’t seen coming. But when Hunter got drafted, there wasn’t even a pause, not even a fraction of hesitation inside me.
I was moving with him.
There was no version of my life where I stayed behind while he built his future in another state. It wasn’t a decision at all, but rather an inevitable force. This was about more than just being supportive or what some might call loyalty. It was simpler, more absolute.
With Hunter, there was no halfway point. You either jumped in headfirst or didn’t jump at all, and I’d already taken the plunge.
The way he looked at me the night of the draft, when he clamped his hand around my thigh as if he were afraid I would disappear, despite the cameras flashing around us, told me everything I needed to know.
You’re coming with me.
And, fuck, I wanted to.
It wasn’t just a matter of wanting to, though. It felt inevitable, like gravity pulling me toward a life I hadn’t yet imagined but couldn’t resist.
So I transferred schools, shoved my half-finished marketing degree into a new program, and ended up in the swampy heart of Louisiana, where the air felt thick enough to drink and cicadas buzzed louder than car alarms at night.
I unpacked boxes in a haze of frizzy hair and mosquito bites, wondering if I’d ever get used to the smell of damp earth clinging to everything.
Itshould’vebeen miserable.
But how could I talk about misery when I woke up every morning tangled in Hunter’s arms? His obsession wrapped around me tighter than the sweltering heat, constant and unyielding. The exact kind of attention I’d spent half my life pretending not to crave.
I used to scoff at people who said love could feel like oxygen. Now, I couldn’t fucking breathe without it.
School was chaotic, but apparently transfers always were — or so I’d been told. Half of my credits didn’t carry over, and my new advisor sighed as if I were an inconvenience. I accepted the fact that it would take me longer than planned to graduate.
Maybe I should’ve been alarmed, but I didn’t care the way I thought I would. Compared to the thrill of this new life I’d chosen, everything else felt like background noise.
