Page 37 of Rook
He looked at her then, and the hurt in his eyes was sharp enough to cut.
“You left,” he said again, voice rough. “And I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with me.”
She stepped toward him. “You didn’t ask me to stay.”
His breath tightened, just barely, but she saw it.
He looked away, jaw clenched so tight she thought it might crack. “I shouldn’t have had to.”
The words hit her like a bruise she didn’t know she still carried. She wished she could go back and shake the girl who’d waited for an answer he never gave.
Her heart twisted. “I didn’t know you wanted me to.”
He laughed once, the sound low and bitter. “Yeah. Well. I figured that out.”
She took another step closer. “Noah…”
“Don’t,” he snapped, voice rough. “Don’t say my name like that.” His voice cracked on the last word, barely, but enough.
“Like what?”
“Like you still have a right to it.”
The air between them crackled.
Avery’s pulse pounded in her ears. “I’m trying to talk to you.”
“And I’m trying not to say something I can’t take back.”
She stopped cold.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, pacing once before stopping in front of her again, closer than she was ready for.
“You want the truth?” he asked, voice low and dangerous. “I didn’t write because I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me. I didn’t call because I didn’t think you cared. You left, Aves. You walked away from everything we were.”
Her throat tightened. “I didn’t know what we were.”
His eyes burned. “Yeah. That was the problem.”
The tension between them thickened, a charge neither of them could ignore.
Avery’s breath shook. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You did.”
“I know.”
He looked at her then — really looked at her — and something in his expression cracked. Just a little. Just enough.
She stepped closer, voice soft. “You’re still hurting.”
He flinched like she’d touched a bruise. “Don’t.”
“Noah…”
He shook his head sharply. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?”
