CELINE’S POV


    I hadn’t noticed him at first. Not until it was toote. Not until his voice-low, sharp, and dangerously calm-cut through the air like it had every right to be there.


    “Is that so?”


    Four words. But they gutted me anyway. I turned so slowly that I was sure the world had stopped spinning. And there he was.


    Hunter Reid.


    Leaning against the doorway like he owned the moment. Like he owned every thought running through my head.


    He had been listening.


    I blinked at him, stunned and trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. Why he was “always” doing this-this thing where he looked at me like he could see straight through my skin?


    It was ke’s voice that pulled me out of the fog. “Uh, Celine…” She gave me a look. ‘A this is your problem now’ look. “I should get going.”


    “What?” My voice was tight. Panicked. “No. Please-stay.”


    I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. I didn’t want to be alone with him. Not when I could barely breathe right with him in the room.


    ke shot me a look that screamed ‘What the hell are you doing?’ But she didn’t stop.


    “I’d love to, Celine,” she said, voice higher than normal, trying to peel my fingers off her arm. I hadn’t even realized I was holding on to her.


    “You’re embarrassing me,” she hissed under her breath, yanking herself free. And then she was gone. Just like that. Leaving me standing there with a sleepy Caesar in my arms and Hunter’s eyes pinning me in ce.


    He pushed away from the doorway, slow, deliberate steps bringing him closer until there was nowhere for me to look but at him.


    “Do you think I’m going to bite you?” he asked his tone that frustrating mix of amusement and something harder.


    I swallowed. “No.”


    His head tilted slightly, studying me like I was something he couldn’t quite figure out. “Then why are you always so nervous around me?”


    “I’m not nervous,” I lied.


    “Hmm.” His eyes narrowed, catching on the way I gripped Caesar tighter. “You’re hiding something.”


    I shook my head quickly. “No.” But the word sounded weak. Like I didn’t believe it.


    He didn’t say anything for a moment. Just stood there, staring. Then his gaze dropped to Caesar in my arms.


    “Don’t your arms get tired?” he asked softly. “Carrying him around all day?”


    I blinked at him, confused. What was he even asking? Why did he care?


    “Do you… need something, sir?”


    He looked at me then. Looked at me. And there was something behind his eyes that made my stomach twist.


    “I was just wondering,” he said, his voice quieter now, “if you regret that reckless night you had with a stranger…”


    { froze.


    He kept going as if he hadn’t just cracked something wide open inside me. “If you regret it so much, why did you keep the child?


    My throat closed. I opened my mouth to say something-anything-but the words wouldn’te.


    It didn’t matter. He didn’t wait for an answer.


    “I’m hungry,” he said suddenly. The sharpness was gone from his tone, reced with something t. “Fix me something to eat.”


    I stared at him, still clutching Caesar close. And then, before I could move, he reached out. Took Caesar from my arms like it was nothing


    “I’ll watch him,” he said, almost like a promise. “Just this once.”


    He turned and walked away before I could stop him. But I wasn’t thinking.


    I followed.


    “Please-give him back,” I said, trailing after him, my heart racing. “I can carry him. He’s not heavy.”


    Hunter nced over his shoulder, his expression unreadable.


    But his grip on Caesar stayed firm.


    “I know he’s not,” he said quietly. And he kept walking.


    ~HUNTER’S POV~


    I ignore her protests. I’m good at ignoring things I don’t want to hear. I’ve had practice. But this… her voice… I hear it anyway.


    I shift Caesar in my arms, adjusting him easily, his soft weight settling against my chest like he was meant to be there. He doesn’t even stir.


    His tiny fingers curl into the fabric of my shirt, and I don’t know why that does something to me. Something I don’t like. Something I can’t name.


    Celine watches me like I’m holding something breakable. Like I’m the danger. And maybe I am. But not to him.


    Her eyes are wide and full of something close to panic, though she’s trying to mask it behind the practiced nkness I’ve seen on her face too many


    times.


    I’ve never been a fan of liars. Or masks. I prefer the ugly truth.


    I nce down at Caesar again, my thumb brushing over his curls absently. His breathing is soft and even, aplete contrast to hers.


    She’s holding her breath.


    I can tell. And I hate it. I hate the way she looks at me like I’m the enemy when I haven’t even figured out which side I’m on yet.


    “Go make the food,” I say, my voice sharp enough to leave no room for argument. She hesitates like she’s still weighing the risk.


    “But-”


    I lift my eyes back to her. I don’t say anything for a second, and it’s long enough for her to get ufortable.


    “What?” My voice drops lower. “You don’t trust me with him?”


    I watch the war happening behind her eyes. It’s not about trust.


    ake a step forward.


    Not really. It’s about fear. I’m not sure if it’s for him. Or for herself. But it’s there. Loud and obvious. And I don’t know if I hate that or if I get it.


    214


    11:01 Tue, 29 Jol GM


    She swallows Hand. And then she finally turns and the rhen One step that’s all de mangers before i spise p.


    *You never did answel my question”


    She stops. I knew she would. She grips the doorframe like as the only thing hotting her up. Her shevders are tight and gue


    I can see the shiver run through her even from where i stand,


    I keep my voice quiet this time.


    Quieter is better.


    Quieter makes people listen. “If you regretted him so much…”


    I pause, letting the words breathe before I finish them. “Why did you keep him?”


    I stare at her back, waiting. Lalready know what she’s going to say. Nothing. Because it’s written all over her. She doesn’t have an anguer d’ag give me.


    Not yet.


    Caesar shifts against me, sighing in his sleep. And for reasons I don’t understand, I bring my hand up and cradle the back of highered


    Gently. More gently than I knew I was capable of. I don’t take my eyes off her. And I don’t say anything else. Not until she does


    She doesn’t answer.


    I didn’t expect her to.


    Celine stays there in the hallway, her fingers digging into her skin like it’s the only thing keeping her upright. I watch her shoulders rise, then fall, like breathing is something she has to remind herself to do.


    I can almost feel it-the battle she’s having with herself.


    The need to run. The need to stay. The guilt. The pride. All of it crashed into each other inside her.


    She turns her head slightly, not enough to look at me, but enough for me to see her profile. Hershes lower, her jaw tight.


    “I didn’t keep him because I regret it,” she says, her voice so soft it’s almost an apology. “I kept him because I couldn’t… I couldn’t get rid of the only good thing that ever came out of something so… so wrong.”


    Her words are jagged and raw like they hurting out. Like she’s choking on them. And I feel something twist in my chest.


    Tight.


    Ugly.


    Real. For a long moment, I don’t say anything. I can’t. Caesar shifts in my arms again, and I look down at him. He’s peaceful. Completely unaware,


    Like none of this matters. Like none of this will ever touch him.


    And I want to believe that. I want to believe that she’s made his life different.


    Better. <fn7849> ?????? ???? find?novel</fn7849>


    But I also wonder… If she thinks it is wrong, why is he the only thing she calls good? I clear my throat. My voice is rougher than I meant for it to be.


    “Go make something to eat, Celine.”


    She turns fully then, her eyes searching mine like she’s looking for something she’s scared to find.


    “I can hold him,” she says quietly, taking a step toward me.


    “He’s not heavy.”


    ! tilt my head. “You think I don’t know that?” I ask, shifting Caesar slightly. “He doesn’t weigh anything.”


    I pause.


    “He feels like nothing.” And that’s the part that feels wrong. Because there’s nothing about him that’s nothing. He’s everything.


    I can feel it. And I barely know him. Her lips part, but I don’t wait for whatever she’s going to say. I turn, carrying Caesar toward the living room like I’ve done this a million times before.


    Like it’s natural.


    It makes sense.


    “Just this once,” I tell her over my shoulder.


    But the second the words are out of my mouth, I already know it’s a lie. Because there’s nothing about this- About him, About her- That feels like it’s only going to happen once.


    AD


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