Page 59 of Gatsby's Starlet
My chest tightened at that, sharper now, because there wasn’t a version of this where I got to keep him; I was going to lose him either way, walk away and let him think whatever he wanted, or tell him the truth and watch it break something between us, but at least one of those choices might keep him alive.
I let out a slow breath and laid back, staring up at the ceiling, telling myself I just needed a few minutes, just enough to let everything settle, to let my body catch up with my head, and then I heard it.
Something faint. A shuffle.
My whole body went still, breath catching in my throat as I listened harder, every sense locking in, every nerve going tight.
There—again.
Closer this time.
A sound from the front of the house.
My heart slammed hard against my ribs as I pushed up slowly, quietly, my hand reaching without thinking for the first thing I could use, a heavy lamp from the nightstand, my fingerstightening around the base as I stepped into the hallway, every instinct screaming now, every part of me already knowing.
He came back.
I moved carefully, slower now, quieter, each step deliberate as I made my way toward the front of the house, my grip tightening on the lamp as the sound came again, the door.
My pulse spiked.
And then—
“Evie?”
Gatsby!
The tension snapped so hard it left me dizzy, the breath I’d been holding breaking free in a rush as everything inside me dropped all at once, my knees going weak in a way that had nothing to do with control and everything to do with the fact that it wasn’t him, it wasn’t Kane, it wasn’t what I thought was coming through that door.
I moved fast, not even thinking, dropping the lamp onto the table with a dull, uneven thud as I crossed the distance and yanked the door open.
He was right there.
Close enough that I didn’t stop.
Didn’t think.
I just stepped into him, my arms wrapping around him tight, pressing in like I needed him to keep breathing.
He caught me instantly, like he’d been ready for it, one hand coming firm to my back while the other slid up to the back of my neck, holding me there without hesitation, without question.
“Hey,” he said, his voice dropping low, calming in a way that cut through everything still spinning inside me. “Hey… I got you.”
That almost broke me.
Not the fear.
Not the night.
That.
“I thought—” I started, but my voice caught, the words tangling somewhere between my chest and my throat as I shook my head against him, my fingers tightening in the fabric of his shirt.
His hand pressed firmer at my back, grounding, solid. “What?”
I forced a breath in, but it didn’t come easy. “Nothing… I just didn’t expect anyone.”
He didn’t call me on it, not right away, but I felt the shift in him, the way he stilled just enough to take it in, to read what I wasn’t saying, even as his hand stayed exactly where it was, comforting, unmoving, like he wasn’t about to let me go anywhere.
