Page 16 of Velvet Thorns
I tell myself not to look. Not to move.
I can’t do it. I can’t look. Can’t?—
“Brandon Michaelson, how the hell have you been?”
Holy shit—he sounds different now.
Just hearing his voice again twists something low in my stomach, unearthing emotions I’ve spent years trying to bury.
Hate.
Fear.
Want.
Anticipation.
Hurt.
And buried under every jagged shard of pain is a fucked-up, feral ache that whispers,“You miss him.”
No.
No, no, no.
Fuck that.
Fuck that memory. Fuck that feeling. Fuck that one right off the edge of a cliff and straight into the sea.
I didn’t survive him just to fall back under his spell.
I stare down at my drink, gripping the glass so tightly I think itmight shatter in my hands. The condensation slides down my fingers, cold against skin that’s already gone numb. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to get the hell out of here, to run back to my hotel and catch the first flight home. But I don’t move. I can’t move. Because somewhere deeper—buried beneath the panic, and the years of pretending I was fine—there’s a part of me that needs this. The part that’s been curled up in the dark and feeding off rage for ten years.
“I’m great, man. Although I thought there would be more people here tonight.”
“The place is packed out with people.”
“I meantourpeople,” Brandon clarifies with a cruel laugh. “And trust me, this chick is definitely not it if you’re thinking about talking to her.”
“I’m not fucking deaf,” I cut in, disguising my voice as best I can without making it sound as fake as I feel.
When I turn to face them, my eyes land on Phoenix for the first time, and holy fucking hell… I thought I was prepared. I must’ve told myself a hundred times it wouldn’t matter, that however he looked now couldn’t touch me. But that was a lie because nothing could have prepared me for the sheer gravity of him.
He’s not a boy anymore. He’s taller, broader through the shoulders, and his dark hair is perfectly disheveled like someone’s been running their fingers through it all night.
He’s devastating and has the audacity to be even more beautiful now than he was when he destroyed me.
My chest aches. My hands tremble. But I keep my chin up.
Because I didn’t come here to fall apart… I came here to make sure he does.
“Not deaf, but you’ve got bite,” Phoenix says, his gaze lingering on me.
He doesn’t recognize me.
“And who might you be?”
“No one you’d know,” I reply, lifting my drink to my lips. “Different circles.”
