ARYA
The front door slammed with enough vigor to shake the entire house and there he was. Vander stormed out of the house like a thunderstorm in boots, unignorable rage rolling off him in thick waves.
Something was wrong—again.
I moved from behind the pillar I’d been leaning against for the last twenty minutes. I’d been waiting, somehow in the vain hopes that something could be different.
“Vander,” I called out to him before he could get too far. He didn’t hear me at first. Moving forward quickly, I asked, “Vander, wait, are you okay?”
He halted mid-step and turned reluctantly, just enough to glance over his shoulder. “What do you want, Arya?”
There wasn’t a single hint of interest in his tone and it made my heart constrict.
“I…” shit. I was suddenly illiterate. “I’ve been waiting all day. I thought maybe we could talk.”
His brow twitched. “Now’s not a good time.”
Say ‘ okay’ and let it go, Arya.
But I did the exact opposite. It slipped through my lips faster than I could hold back
