POV: Maya
The city of Seattle looked like a handful of shattered diamonds tossed onto black velvet from this high up.
Cade had driven in a silence so heavy it felt like a third passenger in the truck. He navigated the winding mountain roads with a terrifying, effortless precision, his large hands steady on the wheel while I sat in the passenger seat, vibrating with the aftershocks of a life-altering realization.
We pulled into a gravel turnout overlooking the Puget Sound. The engine cut out, and for a moment, the only sound was the ticking of the cooling metal and the wind howling through the pines.
Cade climbed out and walked around to my side, wrenching the door open. The night air was freezing, biting through my thin dress, but it felt clean.
"Out," he commanded.
I stepped out, my legs feeling like they were made of water. He led me to the very edge of the wooden guardrail. Below us, the world dropped away into a darkness so deep it felt bottomless.
"Scream," he said.
I looked at him, my brow furrowing. "What?"
"No one's around for miles, Maya. No one to judge you. No one to tell you to be 'nice' or 'composed' or 'safe.' Let it out. All of it."
"I can't just... stand here and scream at the sky, Cade. It's ridiculous."
"Is it?" He stepped closer, his shadow swallowing mine. "Is it more ridiculous than staying silent while a man treats your heart like a footrest? Is it more ridiculous than pretending you're okay when you're dying inside?"
"I don't know how," I whispered.
"Then watch me. I'll go first."
Cade stepped right to the edge, his boots crunching on the loose gravel. He took a breath, a massive, lung-expanding draw of air and then he let it go.
It wasn't a shout. It was a raw, primal roar that seemed to come from the very soles of his feet. It was a sound of war, of grief, of years spent in places the sun didn't reach. It vibrated in the air, echoing off the rock faces until it felt like the mountain itself was screaming back at him.
He finished, his chest heaving, and turned to look at me. His eyes were wild, silver-bright in the moonlight. "Your turn."
I hesitated for a second, then I closed my eyes. I thought of the seven years. I thought of the "high-five" emoji. I thought of Ethan asking me to pick between a lawyer and a blonde while my heart was bleeding out on his designer rug.
I opened my mouth and I screamed.
At first, it was thin. But then the dam broke. Six years of "I'm fine" and "It's okay" and "Whatever you need, Ethan" came pouring out in a jagged, throat-tearing wail. I screamed until my lungs burned. I screamed until I couldn't remember my own name. I screamed for the girl who had waited, and the girl who had been forgotten, and the girl who was finally, violently, waking up.
When I finally stopped, my legs gave way.
I didn't hit the ground. Cade was there, his arms wrapping around me like iron bands, catching me before I could collapse. He lowered us both to the dirt, pulled me into the space between his knees, and let me bury my face in the crook of his neck.
I cried then-not the quiet, polite tears of the dinner table, but the ugly, racking sobs of a person who had finally let go of a heavy weight. He didn't say a word. He didn't tell me to hush. He just held me, his hand steady on the back of my head, shielding me from the wind.
Eventually, the tears ran dry. I pulled back slightly, wiping my face with the heels of my hands.
"Better?" he asked, his voice low and raspy.
"A little," I admitted. My throat felt like I'd swallowed hot coals. "Maybe. I don't know. I feel... empty."
"Empty is good," Cade said. "Empty means you have room for something new. You spent six years making yourself smaller for someone who didn't even notice you were shrinking, Maya. That ends tonight."
"I don't know how to be anything else," I whispered, looking out at the city lights. "I've been 'Ethan's Maya' for so long, I don't know who 'just Maya' is."
"Then learn," Cade said, reaching out to brush a stray, damp hair from my cheek. "I'll teach you."
I looked up at him, the moonlight catching the scar on his cheek. "Why do you care, Cade? Why are you doing this? You hardly know me."
His hand lingered on my face, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. "Because when I look at you, Maya, I see someone worth fighting for. And it pisses me of, it genuinely, deeply pisses me off that you're the only one who doesn't see it."
My breath caught. The intensity in his gaze was enough to melt the last of the ice around my heart.
"And because..." He stopped, his jaw tightening as if he were fighting himself.
"Because what?" I pushed.
"Because I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I found you in his apartment," he growled, the honesty of it raw and jagged. "Because I saw you standing there in that wreckage, and all I wanted to do was take you away from him. And I know that's fucked up. I know he's my brother and you're his 'best friend' and this is all a disaster-"
I didn't let him finish.
It was impulsive. It was desperate. It was the least "safe" thing I had ever done in my life. I lunged forward and pressed my lips to his, effectively shutting him up.
Cade froze for a heartbeat. I thought I'd made a mistake, that I'd finally crossed a line I couldn't uncross.
Then, he made a low sound in the back of his throat, a growl of pure, unadulterated hunger, and his hands were in my hair, pulling me closer. The kiss wasn't gentle. It wasn't a "best friend" kiss. It was a claiming. It was intense, dark, and tasted of coffee and the cold mountain air. It was a truth spoken without words, and it made my entire body hum with a life I hadn't felt in years.
We broke apart, both of us breathing hard, the air between us practically glowing with static.
"Oh god," I whispered, my forehead resting against his. "I just... I just kissed Ethan's brother."
"Don't apologize," he snapped, his grip on my waist tightening.
"That was insane," I said, a hysterical laugh bubbling up. "You're his brother. I'm a mess. This is..."
"The first real thing you've felt in years?" Cade finished for me.
I stopped. I looked into his storm-gray eyes and realized he was right. Everything with Ethan had been a fantasy, a performance of patience. This? This was terrifyingly, beautifully real.
Cade stood up, pulling me with him. He didn't let go of my hand. He looked down at me, his expression more serious than I'd ever seen it.
"I'm not Ethan, Maya. I don't do half-measures. I don't do 'friends-with-benefits' or backup plans. If this starts, I'm all in. I'm playing for keeps."
He stepped back, letting the wind swirl between us.
"Are you?" he asked.
I looked at him, terrified and exhilarated all at once. The "safe" world was gone. The bridge was burnt.
"I don't know," I whispered.
"Figure it out. Fast," Cade said, turning back toward the truck. "Because I'm already falling, Maya. And I don't plan on hitting the ground alone."
