Chapter 91: ELENA

"What are you thinking about?" I was sprawled across Ryder's sweaty chest, trailing my fingertip around his nipple lazily as we both tried to catch our breath. As expected, the one thing I needed to turn my very shitty day into sunshine was him, always him.

He'd taken me down as soon as we walked through the door, and just like magic, I forgot about everything else for those moments spent in his arms. It's amazing how I'd spent the last five years convincing myself that I could live without him, without this, only to realize in the last few days that I had been merely existing, just going through the motions of showing myself and everyone else around me that I was fine. Now, I know that I was anything but.

I lifted my head to look at him when he didn’t answer and realized that the panic was gone. In the past, his silence would’ve made me nervous, and I would’ve found ways to fill the void, always terrified of the silences that seemed to stretch between us at the worst of times.