All Chapters of One Night Stand series : Chapter 121 - Chapter 127

The morning light should’ve felt softer, but it burned.It filtered through Theo’s blinds, slicing across his bare chest and her tangled hair like judgment written in gold.She should’ve left before sunrise. That was the plan sneak out quietly, slip back home before anyone noticed. But when she’d woken up to Theo’s arm still draped around her, heavy and warm, she couldn’t move. She just lay there, listening to his heartbeat thud against her ear, memorizing it.Because she knew what came next would destroy everything.By the time she finally left his apartment, her pulse was racing. Her brother’s truck was parked in the driveway when she got home, the engine still warm.Jasmine froze on the porch.Adam never came home this early.Her stomach twisted as she stepped inside.He was sitting at the kitchen table, still in his uniform from last night’s late shift. His elbows rested on his knees, his head bowed, phone in his hand. He looked up when she walked in and the look on his face made

The invitation sat on her dresser for three days.Glossy cardstock, gold trim, her name printed neatly across the top in black ink:“Fire & Courage Annual Charity Ball.”She’d laughed the first time she saw it, not out of humor but disbelief. The last place she wanted to be was surrounded by Theo’s coworkers men who probably whispered about her behind the locker doors and even less, standing beside her brother pretending life hadn’t fallen apart.Still, she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away.Adam had asked her to come. Not ordered. Not guilted. Just asked.“It’d mean something if you showed up,” he’d said quietly that morning, avoiding her eyes.Maybe it was his way of trying. Or maybe he just didn’t want the town gossip painting her as the girl who vanished after breaking a fireman’s heart.So now, here she was, standing in front of the mirror, trying to decide if wearing red was too much.It probably was. But she wore it anyway.The dress hugged her waist, simple but bold the

“I love you so much. I always will,” he said. Jasmine closed the distance between them, her hands reaching up to touch his chest. She could feel his heart racing beneath her palms, matching the rhythm of her own. “Then don’t,” she whispered, her lips brushing against his.He hesitated for a moment longer, his gaze searching hers, before surrendering to the moment. With a groan, he swept her into his arms, carrying her to the couch. They fell together in a tangle of limbs, their kisses hungry and desperate.Jasmine’s hands moved to his shirt, unbuttoning it clumsily as she explored the terrain of his chest. His skin was warm and smooth, his muscles taut beneath her touch. She moaned softly as his lips trailed down her neck, his breath hot against her skin.“You have no idea what you do to me,”he growled, his hands moving to her bra. With a swift motion, he unhooked it, revealing her breasts to his hungry gaze. His eyes darkened further as he took in the sight, his lips curving into a

The sun rose slow that morning lazy, golden, and almost smug, as if it knew exactly what it was shining on. Light spilled through the blinds in broken lines, crawling across tangled sheets and two exhausted, thoroughly ruined humans who’d forgotten what sleep meant.Jasmine lay still, her body folded against Theo’s chest, her ear pressed to the steady thump of his heart. Every rise and fall of his breathing felt like proof that they’d made it through the chaos, through the whispers, through the flames, literal and otherwise.For the first time all summer, there was no rush. No running. No hiding. Just the quiet truth of what they’d become messy, ridiculous, alive.She tilted her head, watching the light paint his face in gold. He looked softer in sleep, less like the fearless firefighter everyone worshipped and more like the man who once burned pancakes in her kitchen wearing her pink apron.Her fingertips brushed along his jaw, tracing the faint scruff that shadowed it.He stirred, v