~ Flashback ~ ...15 YEARS AGO⦠Thorneās POV I leaned back in my chair, stretching as the last bell rang. The classroom buzzed with laughter and chatter, the air thick with that Friday kind of freedom. Skylar kicked the back of my chair, grinning like the smug bastard he was. āSo?ā he asked, raising a brow. āYou actually did it? You broke up with the psycho?ā āFinally,ā I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. āGod, you have no idea how exhausting that woman was.ā Logan barked a laugh. āThat woman? Bro, you mean your twenty-nine-year-old sugar nightmare?ā āShut up.ā I couldnāt help the smirk tugging at my lips. āYeah, well, sheās officially out of my life. I told her itās over this morning. I even blocked her number.ā Skylar leaned forward, wide-eyed. āFor real? No crying, no dramatics?ā āOh, there were dramatics,ā I said, rolling my eyes. āShe started calling me every name under the sun. Said Iād regret it, said Iād ānever find someone who loved me like she did.ā You know,
~Flashback continues~ Thorneās POV Months had passed before I realized how deep I was in. Lorie wasnāt just another woman I fooled around with, sheād become my whole damn world. We spent nearly every day together. Sheād drag me out for drives at midnight just to get greasy fries or force me to dance with her in the living room while some old rock song played in the background. When she laughed, it sounded like rebellion. When she kissed me, it was chaotic. I didn't regret going after her. My friends were right. And every time she snapped a picture of us, she blurred my face, because she was too jealous to let others see my face. It was possessive. Intense. Addicting. I told myself she was just protective and that she cared. But sometimes, when she got drunkāreally drunkāsheād get mean. Her jealousy could slice a man open. That night, we were in our usual bar. The music thumped low, the air thick with smoke. She had her arm wrapped around my shoulders, her body pressed close,
~ Flashback ~...15 YEARS AGOā¦Thorneās POVWe were in a bar. Neon lights flickered off the cracked mirrors behind the counter, painting everything in sick shades of red and blue. Logan and Skylar were already halfway gone,laughing too loud, spilling beer on the table, clinking their glasses like kings of chaos. We were barely eighteen but always trying to act like adults. They were my partners in crimes,my best friends.Logan slammed his drink down and pointed his bottle at me. āTo us, the legends who finally left the virgin squad behind!āSkylar groaned, rubbing his temple but grinning like a maniac. āBro, I swear, Loganās gonna put that on his tombstone.āāDamn right,ā Logan said proudly. āYou shouldāve seen her, Thorne. My hot-ass neighborās daughter, sheās been giving me the look for months. Always walking around in those short shorts, bending over to āpickā something up. Come on, whatās a man supposed to do?āSkylar burst out laughing, beer foaming down his chin. āYou? A man? M
Hi, my amazing readers!? If youāve been reading my stories, youāve probably noticed I love using flashbacks, a lot. š Itās not just a stylistic choice. For me, flashbacks are anchors because they connect the past to the present and reveal the hidden motives, secrets, and emotions that shape my charactersā choices. You get to actually see their motivations in the past, what they really thought about something. Sometimes a single memory can pivot the entire story, changing how you see a character or twisting the truth you thought you knew. š„ So if you ever come across a flashback, do read it! You get to see what happened instead of just being told. It might change everything you thought you knew. Continue bingeing! I love y'all! ā¤ļø
Delilahās POVā...You know,ā a deep voice said from the kitchen, āI was thinking of baby names while you were goneā¦Delilah?āMy throat closed up and I wiped the tears from my face . Slowly, I turned, anger twisting painfully in my chest. I picked up the file as his footsteps approached.He appeared at the doorway of the hidden study, shirtless, his sweatpants hanging low on his hips. But the sight that once made my pulse race now made my stomach twist. The faint silver light from the room painted half his face in shadow. His beautiful, dangerous, now guilty face.āDelilah,ā he said quietly, taking a hesitant step forward. āItās not what you think.āMy chest heaved, hot tears already burning at the corners of my eyes. āNot what I think?ā My voice cracked, rising with disbelief. āYou killed her!āāDelilahā¦āāNo!ā I stumbled back, shaking my head violently. āDonāt you dare say my name like that. You killed my mother!āDeep down, I was begging for him to tell me that this is all a big mi
Delilahās POVI jolted awake. My heart raced so fast I thought it might tear through my ribs. Oh God.. I just had a terrible nightmare.In the dream, Iād been falling⦠tumbling down endless stairs⦠screaming until my throat burned. And then the cruel pain tearing through my belly.And there was blood. Lots of it.I gasped, sitting up in bed, my palm instinctively flying to my stomach. I was breathing too fast, the nightmare clinging to me like smoke I couldnāt exhale. There's no way I'm losing this baby again. No way in hell.āItās just a dream,ā I whispered to myself, trying to calm my trembling hands. āJust a dream⦠hormones, thatās all.āThe room was dark, lit only by the silver wash of moonlight spilling through the curtains. I looked at Thorne, still asleep.His lips were parted slightly, his hair messy against the pillow. The sight softened something inside me, made me forget the terror for a moment. I'd never forget our intense and sweet sex.I slid carefully off the bed, tryi