38 - LIGHTS OUT

38 - LIGHTS OUT


CHERYL

I smiled. I nodded. I accepted congratulations from people I had never met in my life, people who were in my house—a house that wasn’t even mine.

Damon introduced me to everyone like I belonged here, like this was some grand milestone in my life worth celebrating. But the truth?

I felt like a stranger.

I wasn’t even sure what I was doing here.

The drink in my hand was growing warm, the ice melting into something tasteless. I had been nursing it for what felt like hours, using it as a prop—something to keep my hands busy, something to give me an excuse to retreat when the conversation became too much.

And yet, my mind was elsewhere.

On the door.

On the one person I hadn’t seen yet.

I told myself I wasn’t looking for him.

That I wasn’t waiting for him.

That I didn’t care whether he showed up or not.

But every time that damn door swung open, my breath hitched—only to deflate when it wasn’t him.

Aiden wasn’t coming.

Of course, he wasn’t.

Why had I even thought—why had I even hoped—

“Cheryl.”

I startled as Damon’s voice cut through my thoughts, his arm wrapping around my waist. I turned to him, forcing a smile.

“Time for a toast,” he said, smiling at me, his eyes warm, full of something I wasn’t sure I could name.

A toast.

To me.

To this house.

I nodded and let him guide me toward the center of the room, where he raised his glass, the entire party shifting their attention toward us.

“To Cheryl,” Damon announced, his voice loud and sure. “To her new beginning. To this beautiful home and all the incredible memories she’s going to make here.”

The room erupted in cheers, glasses clinking, laughter echoing.

And then—Damon kissed me.

It was soft. Sweet. Perfect.

But—

I felt nothing.

No spark. No fire. No butterflies in my stomach.

There was something missing.

I pulled back gently, offering him a small smile before I muttered, “I need some air.”

Damon let me go easily, turning back to the crowd, already caught up in conversation.

And I slipped away.

The balcony was cool and quiet, the air crisp against my skin.

I leaned against the railing, taking a slow sip of my drink, my thoughts a tangled mess in my head.

I had spent the entire night waiting for him.

And for what?

He wasn’t coming.

I let out a breath, the last remnants of hope fading.

I should go back inside.

But just as I turned—

He was there.

Aiden.

Standing at the doorway, staring at me.

And I forgot how to breathe.

He looked—wrecked.

His eyes were dark, his jaw tense, his entire body exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with sleep.

The beat-down look on his face made my chest tighten, made my fingers curl around my glass because I didn’t know what to do with this feeling.

My breath hitched, my heart lurching in my chest as I whispered, “I thought you weren’t coming.”

Aiden didn’t move.

For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer.

But then—

“There was no way I was going to miss this.”

His voice was rough. Low.

And dangerous.

My fingers trembled slightly around my glass. “Why?”

Silence.

Thick. Stifling. Heavy.

Then—

“How else was I going to tell you…”

He took a slow step toward me.

“…that I was falling for you?”

The world tilted.

Everything stilled.

The music inside was muffled, the laughter, the chatter—all of it fading into nothing.

There was only him.

Aiden Parker.

His words wrapped around me like a noose, tightening something deep inside me, something I had been pretending didn’t exist.

And then—he moved closer.

Too close.

I could feel him.

His presence burned, his body a furnace as he closed the space between us, his hands coming up, barely touching, but enough to make my skin ignite.

I was drowning in his gaze.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I should pull away.

I should run.

But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

Because he was looking at me like I was his whole world.

Like I was something he shouldn’t want, but couldn’t stop himself from reaching for.

His fingers brushed against my arm, and the touch was barely there—but it shattered me.

I opened my mouth—to say something, to breathe—

And then—

The lights went out.

The entire house was swallowed in darkness.

A collective gasp sounded from inside, but before I could react, before I could even think—

His lips were on mine.

And I was gone.

Aiden kissed me like he had been waiting for this moment his entire life.

Like he needed it.

Like he needed me.

It wasn’t sweet.

It wasn’t soft.

It was devastating.

Fire and desperation, lips colliding, hands gripping, his body pressing against mine as if he wanted to erase every single second I had ever spent without him.

And I—

I kissed him back.

Because for the first time in my life—

I knew exactly what I wanted.