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Chapter <b>18 </b>
Storm fading to a distant murmur, hours passed in restless wakefulness as one memory refused to let go.
The kiss.
It had started as a dare. A joke between two people trying to survive the weirdest three days of their lives. But it hadn’t felt like a joke when his mouth touched mine. It felt… real.
Like something we weren’t supposed to want, but did anyway.
And I had been the one to pull back. I said the words I thought I was supposed to say.
“Friends don’t kiss.”
Liam neither protested nor pulled me in. He just stayed there, as though I’d be a puzzle
he couldn’t solve.
Eventually, my thoughts blurred, and I must’ve dozed off because the next time I opened my eyes, golden light filtered through the windows.
The storm had stopped, and the electricity was back.
I blinked as the hum of appliances returned, and my phone buzzed with missed messages and dyed alerts. My signal bar finally lit up.
One alert stood out:
Roads clearing. Storm cleanup underway. Normal traffic expected by morning.
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Tomorrow.
I’d be going home tomorrow.
I should’ve felt relieved.
Instead, there was this strange, hollow feeling in my chest.
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This mansion had felt like a cage at first. A luxurious one, but a cage nheless. Now, weirdly, it felt like a cocoon I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave.
Downstairs, Liam was already awake. He looked like he hadn’t slept either.
“Morning,” I said, voice a little too quiet.
He handed me a cup of coffee wordlessly.
I nodded and wrapped both hands around the warm mug.
“They say the roads will be cleared by morning,” I offered, trying to keep things casual.
“I saw,” he replied, eyes fixed on his own cup.
I waited for him to say something else. I’ll miss you, stay another day, I had fun with you around the house, please don’t go. But nothing came, he didn’t even look at me when he spoke. No joke. Noment. Just silence.
But I saw it in the line of his shoulders, the hesitation in his voice,
He felt it as much as I did, but he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of his image.
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We spent the morning avoiding the topic of goodbye.
Instead, we yed chess.
It started as a joke. I teased that he probably gambled portfolios on every move.
“You’re not entirely wrong,” he said, smirking.
We sat in the sunroom, light dancing on the board. I lost the first game badly. Barely won the second. used him of letting me win the third.
“I would never go easy on you,” he insisted.
“Liar,” I grinned.
“Brat,” he countered, moving his knight.
Our banter filled the room, easing the tightness around my ribs. But with every checkmate I suffered, I felt the clock ticking on ourst hours together.
By afternoon, I couldn’t sit still any longer.
“I need something chaotic,” I dered. “Let’s do karaoke.”
He blinked. “Karaoke?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t have it.”
He stood and strolled to a corner console, pulling apact mic system and touchscreen into
the room.
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Iughed. “You actually have a karaoke setup?”
“Sophia’s doing,” he said, voice light. “She loves hosting parties.”
“Believe me, I noticed,” I said, shing a grin.
He ignored me and powered it on. I scrolled through the options and dared to pick the most dramatic early–2000s power bad.
He perched on an armchair, arms crossed, ncing between me and the screen.
I threw myself into the chorus, off–key and overdramatic. He winced so hard I thought his ears might bleed.
“Okay,” he said, hands over his ears. “That’s enough. My eardrums are begging for mercy.
<i>” </i>
“Rude!”
“Wrap it up.”
He swiped the mic away and synced his phone instead, cueing up a mellow jazz ylist.
I rolled my eyes. “Wow. Okay, ‘Gentleman Liam.‘
“You have the worst taste,” he quipped.
“You have no soul.” I crossed my arms, pouting dramatically.
Then he surprised me. He tapped his phone, recing the jazz with a familiar beat.
The first notes of the Rihanna song I’d danced to on his kitchen counter filled the room.
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My heart lurched. I stared at him.
He raised a brow. “Thought I’d y something… familiar.
I couldn’t help it. I burst outughing. “Unbelievable.”
He sipped his coffee, unfazed.
The beat dropped again, and I stood.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
”
“We’re friends now, right? Friends dance in front of friends.”
He looked like he might actually explode.
I broke into a wild, unselfconscious dance, carried wholly by the beat and the moment.
gaze followed
His
every move, slow and appreciative. My blood buzzed. Because something in his eyes had changed: no more walls, just… interest.
I held out a hand. “Dance with me.
<i>“</i><i>} </i>
He hesitated, then took it. We moved together, clumsy at first, then with growing confidence, as if we’d always known this rhythm.
The space between us melted.
His hands settled on my waist. Mine slid up his chest. The world narrowed to the music and
our breath.
When the chorus hit, he leaned in and kissed me.
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<b>Chapter </b>18
<b>This </b>time, there was no bravado or dare. No yful banter.
Just pure, intense want.
His hand tangled in my hair. Mine fisted the front of his shirt. The room spun.
Then he pulled back, eyes dark and unreadable.
He muttered, “Goddamn it.”
“Liam…”
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He shushed me with a finger. “Goodnight, Emily.”
Before I could respond, he turned and walked towards the hallway.
I stood in the middle of the living room, heart pounding, breath stolen, body humming with heat.
“Seriously?” I whispered to the empty space.
<b>The </b>lights flickered once and then settled into brightness.
And I realized, this was it. Tomorrow I’ll leave. But tonight, everything had changed.
The <bst </b>night wasn’t about goodbyes or regrets. It was about the truth we both couldn’t deny any longer.
<b>The </b>fire we’d ignited in each other, a spark too dangerous to ignore.
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