Page 7 of Before We Break Again
“Why are you so excited about this new consultation?”I ask, tapping my chin, pretending to think.“Is it Fletcher St.James?”I throw out one of her favorite football players, trying not to smirk.
“I wish,” she laughs, crossing her arms.“If it were him, I would’ve begged to be his doctor.I would’ve fought you for him.As it is, I tried to convince them to give me this case.I’ve got more experience with upper extremity injuries, which I think your patient might need, but he refused.He said he’s here to see you—and only you.”
“Oh.”I pause, processing.“And they let that slide?”
“High-profile clients get whatever they want,” she says, tilting her head toward Dr.Devoss’s office.“The boss is not happy about it.”
Of course he’s not.He wants control over everything.“If I had the money, I’d open my own practice,” I mutter as I head toward my office.My hand hovers over the doorknob for a second before I push it open.
As I step inside, the world stops.
There, standing beside my desk, is Dustin Haverbrook.Older.Broader.His hazelnut hair falls just below his shoulders, framing a face that’s sharpened with time.
His features are harder, more defined, but the intensity in his green eyes is the same—unmistakable.The kind of gaze that always made me feel like he could see right through me.
My breath catches in my throat, and for a moment, I swear the ground shifts beneath me.It’s him.After all these years.
Our gaze connects, and time seems to slow.I can’t hear anything but the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears as memories rush back—him standing on the edge of the dock, grinning in that way that always felt like a challenge.The way he’d hold me when he couldn’t sleep, his arms wrapping around me like I was the only thing keeping him tethered to this world.
Flashes of the past overwhelm me in an instant.Long summer days when the three of us would get lost in each other’s worlds, late-night conversations where the air between us was thick with words we were too scared to say.Those quiet moments where we didn’t need words at all—when just being together was enough.
But now?Now he’s here, standing in front of me, like a ghost pulled from the past and dropped into my present.I’m frozen, rooted to the spot as his eyes lock onto mine, heavy with everything unsaid.He doesn’t smile.He doesn’t move.Just stares with that same intensity that once made it impossible to look away.
“Halsey?”Roni’s voice is soft, but it cuts through like a knife, breaking the spell.
I blink, drawing a shaky breath, but my heart is still racing.My hands feel clammy, and every nerve in my body is on high alert.
Dustin doesn’t move.He just watches me, his face unreadable, as if he’s waiting for something—waiting for me to make the first move.
But all I can think is:What the fuck is he doing here?
ChapterFour
Dustin
Even though I’mthe one who came looking for her, standing here face-to-face with Halsey Lahey still feels unreal.She’s the grown-up version of the girl who probably saved my life.The last time I saw her, I told myself that one day, the memory of her would fade.That she’d become just another face from the past.
That one day, she’d be nothing more than a shadow—just another face from a past I barely remembered.But here she is, as vivid and real as ever.Standing in front of me, like a memory brought back to life.And all I can think of is how much everything—and nothing—has changed.
Time hasn’t erased the pull she has on me.The air between us feels charged, like it always did, and for a moment, I can’t find the words.She’s not the girl I remember, but there’s something in her eyes—the same light that once made me feel like she could see right through me, the part of me I kept hidden from the world.
She’s different now, sharper, more distant, like the world has carved out pieces of her.Yet, she’s still Halsey.My Halsey.The one who brought color back into my life when I thought it was drained of anything good.The one who gave me hope when I was drowning.
I’m right in front of her, paralyzed, speechless.
Say something, idiot.
But what do you say to someone who changed you forever?Someone who you thought you’d never see again?How do you act like you’re not still holding onto everything you felt for them, even after all these years?
The silence between us is thick, loaded with everything we never said, all the years that slipped away.She’s right there, close enough to touch, yet I can’t bring myself to bridge the gap.
Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment, there’s a flicker—like she’s seeing it too.The boy I once was, the one she pulled from the darkness.
The first time I saw her, it was like my entire world shifted, even though I didn’t understand why at the time.
I was standing on the porch of my grandparents’ house, staring out at the unfamiliar world around me.Blissful Meadows.Dad’s manager had called it my new home, like I was supposed to feel grateful for it.After the media had parked outside Mom’s house this was the safest place he could find for me.
Blissful Meadows—what a name.It sounded too perfect, too peaceful for someone like me, someone who had come from a life that was anything but serene.Los Angeles felt like a universe away, like it belonged to someone else’s life.But the memory ofthatmorning, the morning that changed it all, clung to me, heavy, raw, and sharp.
