Chapter 4 Regret Comes in Waves

Zara woke up with her head on his shoulder, the dawn light creeping through the window blinds, casting stripes across their skin.

Reality hit her harder than any hangover.

She pulled away carefully, hoping he wouldn't wake. But Jace stirred, his hand reaching instinctively for her.

"Stay," he whispered.

She stood, heart pounding as she pulled her hoodie over her tank top. "This was a mistake."

Jace sat up slowly. "It didn't feel like one."

"That's the problem," she muttered.

She wanted to believe she'd moved on. That she was stronger now. But one night with him had unraveled two years of progress in a matter of hours.

"You disappeared, Jace," she said finally, voice trembling. "You didn't just leave-I had to find out through a damn Facebook update that you were transferring."

"I was scared," he admitted. "Of how deep I was falling. I didn't know how to be with someone who made me feel everything."

Zara looked at him, hurt flashing in her eyes. "And now?"

"I still feel everything," he whispered.

She walked to the door, hand on the knob. Her back to him. "Don't come here again."

But when she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it and whispered to herself what she couldn't say to him:

"I still feel everything too