LIORA
Pulling up outside my therapist’s office, I remained seated in the car for several long seconds, my hands still gripping the steering wheel tightly as my eyes stayed fixed on the tall building ahead of me.
For a brief moment, I considered turning the car around and driving away.
Is this appointment even necessary anymore now that Evans is alive?
Everything had changed so suddenly, and I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to feel anymore. Relief? Anger? Confusion? Maybe all three at once.
Clicking my tongue softly in irritation, I finally reached over for my purse and stepped out of the car.
Dragging my feet lazily across the parking lot, I entered the building with zero enthusiasm. The familiar scent of polished floors and air freshener greeted me immediately, making me feel even more exhausted. Usually, I would have taken the elevator straight to my therapist’s office without thinking twice, but today, I simply couldn’t bring myself to get there so quickly.
So instead, I headed toward the staircase.
Maybe I just needed a few extra minutes to prepare myself mentally. Maybe I was stalling because deep down, I didn’t want to talk about everything that had happened. Either way, taking the stairs felt like the better option at the moment.
At first, the slow climb helped distract my thoughts, but by the time I reached the fifth floor, I regretted that decision.
Just then, the soft chime of my phone echoed through the stairwell, pulling me away from my thoughts. Still climbing, I reached into my purse blindly, struggling to find the phone amongst the mess inside.
After a few seconds of searching, I finally pulled it out and glanced down at the screen.
It was a message from Mrs. Chloe.
WHERE ARE YOU?!
Even through the text, I could practically hear the impatience in her voice.
Rolling my eyes lightly, I quickly typed out a response while continuing up the stairs.
I STOPPED BY MY THERAPIST’S OFFICE. I SHOULDN’T TAKE LONG.
The moment I pressed send, I lifted my head, only to crash directly into something solid.
Or rather, someone solid.
The collision caught me completely off guard. A startled gasp escaped my lips as my body stumbled backward violently. My foot missed the edge of the step behind me, and suddenly, panic shot through my entire body as I lost my balance.
For one terrifying second, I genuinely thought I was about to fall all the way down the staircase.
But before that could happen, a large hand shot out and circled my waist, pulling me forward with surprising strength. My body collided against a warm chest as the stranger steadied me securely, preventing what could have been a very painful fall.
Unfortunately, my phone wasn’t saved as quickly as I was.
The device slipped right out of my grasp, bounced loudly against the concrete stairs, and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the staircase.
Breathing hard, I stayed frozen for a moment, trying to recover from the sudden scare.
Then slowly, my eyes drifted downward toward my fallen phone.
The screen is already badly cracked.
“Not paying attention to your surroundings is the easiest way to get yourself killed.” A deep, cold voice rumbled above me.
The irritation I already felt instantly flared up. Scoffing softly, I lifted my head, fully prepared to snap back at him. After all, if he was paying attention too, he wouldn’t have crashed into me in the first place.
But the retort sitting on the tip of my tongue disappeared the second my eyes landed on his face.
My lungs seized breathing.
The familiar dark eyes staring back at me were ones I had spent the entire day searching for. The same face that had refused to leave my mind no matter how hard I tried.
“Evans?” I whispered in disbelief.
Without even realizing it, I took a slow step toward him, my hand lifting slightly as if I needed to touch his face just to make sure he was truly standing in front of me and not some cruel illusion created by my exhausted mind.
But before my fingers could reach him, he recoiled back.
His eyes narrowed into a glare so cold it made my chest tighten painfully.
A low chuckle suddenly sounded from behind him, drawing my attention away from Evans for the first time. My gaze shifted past his shoulder, and that was when I realized he wasn’t alone.
Leaning lazily against the stair railing was another man, tall, broad, and completely unfamiliar. His long blond hair was tied loosely at the back, and amusement danced across his face as he looked between Evans and me like he was watching some entertaining drama unfold.
“Isn’t this the girl who almost killed you in the rain?” he asked with a laugh. “What now? She stalking you or something?”
My brows furrowed immediately.
Was he one of the men who had been with Evans that night? One of the bikers standing there in the pouring rain?
“That was an accident,” I mumbled quickly, my attention snapping back to Evans almost desperately. “It was raining heavily that night, and he suddenly appeared in the middle of the road out of nowhere. I didn’t even have enough time to react and I_”
God, the way he was looking at me right now was nothing like before.
“Shouldn’t you pick up your phone and get going?” Evans rasped coldly.
My gaze briefly dropped toward my broken phone lying at the bottom of the staircase, but honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to care about it at the moment.
That could wait.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was him standing in front of me. Alive. Breathing. Real.
Swallowing nervously, I looked back at him. “I tried looking for you at Black Hallow,” I admitted softly, suddenly aware of how sweaty my palms had become. “But nobody there seemed to know anything about you.”
One of his brows lifted slightly, though his expression remained unreadable.
“I heard,” he replied flatly.
He heard?
That meant he knew I had been searching for him all day. I blinked rapidly, unsure how I was even supposed to respond to that.
“Can we at least talk?”
“What the f**k do you even want to talk about?” the blond-haired guy snapped from behind him. “Let’s get the f**k outta here and leave this b***h already.”
I ignored him completely.
My eyes stayed locked on Evans as silence stretched painfully between us.
He stared back at me without saying a word, his jaw tightening so hard I could actually hear the faint grinding of his teeth.
My eyes began to sting with tears I desperately tried to hold back.
“I don’t understand what’s happening, Evans,” I whispered honestly.
His jaw tightened even more.
“And I’m not going to understand any of this,” I continued weakly, my voice trembling now, “or how you suddenly showed up alive… unless you talk to me.”
Aksara