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I lift my gun back up and point it at Kyle’s head, but he’s so close to Ryder. Ry’s eyes are terrified and glassy, but he’sstill breathing and conscious, even if he looks like he’s barely hanging on. His body must be crashing after fighting for so long, and there’s so much blood pooled on the floor underneath him.

“Thought you’d be six feet under by now,” Kyle sneers, tightening his grip on Ryder’s hair. “Guess I’ll just have to fix that.”

“Let him go,” I say, my voice low with rage.God, I fucking hate him.

“You’re not going to shoot me,” Kyle says, like he doubts how much I love Ryder. He doesn’t understand that I never want to see his face again—never want him to take another breath of the same air Ryder breathes. “You don’t have it in you.”

Ryder doesn’t speak, but his eyes lock with mine as a single tear slides down his cheek, and with a voice so soft it almost breaks me, he whispers, “I love you.”

His eyes close, and his body sags slightly in Kyle’s grip, like he’s stopped fighting.

And that’s when everything inside me goes still.

He can’t be saying goodbye, not when I’m this close. I can’t take it anymore.

“I heard that,” Kyle says, voice eerily calm, pulling Ryder’s head back more. He presses the blade into his neck enough to draw blood. My whole body panics watching a thin crimson line dripping down his throat.

“Stop fucking touching him!” I yell, enraged at seeing his grimy hands onmyRyder.

A faint wail of sirens cuts through the distance, and while the sound fills me with relief, it’s enough to send Kyle into a panic.

“No,” he growls, the blade pressing deeper. “They’re nottaking you from me. I won’t let them. No one gets to have you butme.”

That’s when I realize he doesn’t care if he kills Ryder because if he can’t have him, then no one can. All it takes is one wrong move, one flick of his wrist, and Ryder’s gone before I can even take a single step forward.

I need to end this.

My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my teeth. I look to Dad quickly, and he gives me one curt nod, telling me to do what I need to do. My vision tunnels, every detail sharpening into high definition. I haven’t fired a gun in years, but I remember him telling me that if I ever had to hold a weapon, it had to be with purpose. That I couldn’t afford to hesitate. That if you’re going to take the shot, you better know in your bones what you’re aiming at and why.

And I do. I do. I know exactly what I’m aiming at and why.

Kyle’s standing to the left of Ryder, so I need to aim as far away from Ryder’s head as possible. I keep both hands on the grip, squeeze tighter, try to control my breathing, but I can feel myself unraveling from the inside out because if I miss, I’ll never recover. My stomach churns, and I hear the approaching wail of police sirens, close enough now that I know backup is seconds away.

And for a second, I think maybe I should wait.

Maybe I won’t have to be the one to pull the trigger.

Maybe if I wait one more minute, the cops will burst through the door and handle it.

Maybe I won’t have to be the one who?—

Then Kyle chuckles, and I decide it’s time to put a bullet in him and knock that smug smirk off his face once and for all because his hands are still on Ryder.MyRyder.

I take one final breath and pull the trigger.

The sound is deafening in the small room—a single, brutal crack rips through the air and echoes off the plywood walls. The recoil jolts up my arms, but I don’t flinch, and I don’t breathe until I see the impact.

Kyle jerks violently as the bullet tears into his shoulder, his grip on Ryder releasing all at once. The knife clatters to the floor, spinning across the concrete as he stumbles backward, shrieking in pain, both hands flying to the wound.

But then he snaps, lunging forward, blood pouring down his arm.

“You fucking ruined everything!” he howls at me, eyes wild. “He was mine!”

He staggers toward us, fury overtaking pain, and I should’ve known he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Dad steps between us, raising his weapon and planting himself in Kyle’s path.

“Take one more step, and I swear to god, I will kill you,” he growls, his voice low and deadly.