Page 106 of Broken By Silence
My hand slides into her hair, pulling her in until our foreheads touch.“You can’t just say that like it doesn’t wreck me.”
She laughs quietly, and the sound is everything. “You deserve to be loved, Crew. Even when you don’t think you do.”
I close my eyes, trying to steady the rush of emotion threatening to take me apart. “You have no idea what that means.”
“I think I do,” she whispers. “Because I didn’t think I did either.”
Something in me breaks, and I pull her closer, needing her warmth, needing the proof that this is real. Our mouths find each other. The kiss is soft, and she sighs against my lips, and I feel her smile, and I swear my heart finally finds a rhythm that makes sense.
When we pull apart, I rest my forehead against hers again, eyes still closed.
“I’m never letting you go,” I murmur. “Stuck with me forever now.”
Her hand settles over my heart, and I cover it with mine.
For the first time in years, the noise in my head is quiet. No cravings, no ghosts, no guilt clawing its way up my throat.
Just her.
Chapter 35
Archer
It’s Lottie’s birthday, but it’s also the anniversary.
The one day of the year I can’t escape.
The day I saved Lottie, and lost Luke.
I stare at my phone, thumb hovering over the message Thomas sent earlier.
Thomas
Are you coming tonight?
Am I?
I exhale through my nose, setting the phone down on the counter. Do I even deserve to be there when I couldn’t save him?
The question seems to hang there, like smoke, thick and heavy, choking me, because I already know the answer. Thomas has been trying to get everyone together—those of us who served with Luke—to celebrate his life instead of drowning in the guilt of losing him.
“Celebrate,” he said, like it could erase the weight of failure in my chest.
It’s been three years.
Three years since I’d dropped Luke off after deployment.
Three years since I watched him laugh and wave me off, still wearing that faded green jacket he always swore was lucky. Three years since I told him I’d see him soon, and never did.
I rub the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension that’s sitting there. No amount of time changes the fact that I was supposed to save him. I should have gone back, should have noticed something was off. Instead, I stopped at the beach and saw Lottie in danger.
I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. I just ran.
I can still feel the cold bite of the water when I dove in after her. The shock hit like electricity. The way the current pulled, the way her body floated, limp and pale. I can still feel the burn in my lungs as I dragged her to shore, the desperation as I pressed my hands to her chest, counting out compressions.
And then that single, violent gasp that had her coming back to life.
That sound is burned into me.
