Page 64 of The Other Side

Devastatingly so as my soul dives into the pit of my belly.

With his attention still averted, he continues. “I gave my body to you once only to give you away, and I—” He sucks in a short breath, his words cutting off as his eyes develop a glossy film. “I won’t survive it again.”

His eyes flicker with sadness.

A grief only I know.

We know.

“I want to be your last more than I wanted to be your first.” His throat cocks, a jagged breath slipping out of him. “I didn’t think that was possible, but it is.”

A tear sneaks out of the crook of my eye, knowing how all of this ends. Knowing that my heart will be a hollow vessel if I choose the easy route.

If I choose to keep everything the way it is now.

“Brant, what am I gonna do?” I breathe. “I’m terrified.”

Blatant panic pools my plea. Brant’s always had an answer to every question I’ve ever had. He’s always been the one to steer me on the right path, and I’m at a crossroads where I need him more than ever.

He pivots to lay his back on the floor. Our eyes connect when he lifts his arm to frame my cheek in his hand. His expression remains stoic, but those hazel irises sell him out.

They’re shimmering with yearning.

Ten years of it.

And he’s going to wait it out even longer.

Just for me.

His jaw tenses when he gulps. “Just say the word, and I’ll find you again,” he murmurs. He settles his fingers on my earlobe to toy with my pear-shaped diamond earring. “Underneath all of this. I’ll find you, Callie.”

My lip twitches, a tremble scrolling over it as my eyes water. Then his head gently wags.

“I’d never lie to you. You know that,” he whispers.

I eagerly nod, wrenching another tear out. “I do. I know that. I know.”

His Adam’s apple rolls once more, and he keeps himself parked on the floor.

For his own good.

But I’m already lifting my body to meet him. I sniffle just as he sits up, and I wrap my arms behind his neck. Brant snuggles me into his lap, my knees hiking to my chest as I bend into a fetal position.

He tightens his hold on me, his large hands cradling the back of my head. His stubbled lips connect to my hairline, and the only thing that’s missing from this picture are clusters of pine trees.

But I’m home.

I’m home.

“It’s gonna be alright, Cal,” he coos. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here, Cal. Always.”

This is what paradise is.

My fingers rest on his steel chest, his words branding my veins. That’s when I catch the thin chain and circular pendant.

His necklace is exposed.

I narrow my gaze to fixate on the gold plate that dangles from the skinny chain. And a short engraving flashes before my eyes.