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Despite the pain nestled deep within me, I smiled at his words.

Tipping my head back so that my lips came to his ear, I replied, “You look handsome.” He shuddered, and the effect caused a giggle to escape me.

I brought my lips to his ear once more. “Thank you for saving me.” I hoped he understood what I meant.

I didn’t know how long Charles would have kept me trapped on the dance floor with him, but Wes’s intervention saved me from having to endure another second of it.

His body trembled once again, and knowing that I caused this reaction from him filled me with an odd joy that eased the hurt of his father’s words. I felt as Wes shifted under my hands. And this time, when he whispered in my ear, I felt his lips graze my delicate flesh. “Always.”

The word ricocheted within me, reverberating like an endless echo that made my heart soar.

It was my turn to shudder, to tremble against him.

He held me closer, pressing me against him, and I was lost. Over the moon, beyond the stars…

floating in emotions so vast, in sensations so deep, I thought I was going to be lost forever in the galaxy of it all.

And I loved how I fit in his embrace, my curves matching the rise and falls of him.

Then, we danced. He twirled me, swept me from one space to the next, dipped, and glided me here and there.

But he always brought me back to the center, back to him.

His face always remained close to mine, lips so near that the yearning to touch them—to taste them—was intoxicating.

And suddenly, it finally hit me—Wes had always been my center, my savior. It always came back to him.

My breath escaped me as memories flooded my consciousness.

Wes defending me against a mountain lion.

Wes coming to my rescue at the Presidential Palace after being captured and tortured.

Wes ensuring I survived the attack at the rebel base, even though I fought him every step of the way.

Wes volunteering to help me with the Admin Job when no one else would.

Wes willing to lead off hellhounds to ensure my escape.

Wes going against his family’s wishes to save my brother.

And now, Wes doing everything he could to shield me from his father who threatened to tear my soul apart.

Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes.

His name spun around in my mind like a carousel. It was always Wes .

If I was a princess in a fairytale, I had found my prince, and that realization struck me like a ton of breaks just as Edith’s words reverberated through my consciousness.

How can you not see what’s right in front of you?

How could I have been so blind? So blind not to see that Wes had always been there for me. Always there, even when I lied to him, pushed him away, or was wrapped in the arms of someone else. Wes was always there—angry, stubborn, hurtful, and sometimes an ass—but always there.

Always.

And I had been too stupid, too scared to see it.

Too afraid to admit that maybe I wanted him to be there.

That I wanted him more than anything else.

That the emotions and inexplicable force that always drove me toward him was really my very own heart—my very soul —seeking her perfect match. And I…I was his.

I pulled away from him then, just enough to look straight into his eyes, and it was all there. Everything I had refused to see —refused to acknowledge—was on full display in the depths of those hazel eyes.

Love.

I let go of his hand, drawing both of my own onto his chest, and I felt him.

I felt the beating of his heart, hard and fast. And I knew at that moment he was afraid.

Afraid that I would take his soul—the part of him he had worked so hard to shield from the world—and reject it. But he had nothing to fear from me.

Not anymore.

I allowed my left hand to travel up his chest, feeling the fabric of his lapel, and then the smooth skin of his neck. His heart jumped under my right palm, galloping wildly in his chest. With bated breath, I whispered his name.

He pulled me closer, drawing me flush against his body, causing me to lose my voice. His spare hand caressed my cheek. “Mara, I…” he hesitated, and I felt my heart thundering inside me. I held my breath, the anticipation tearing me at the seams. “I…”

Do it. Just say it.

I had to hear it. I needed to hear him confirm everything I was only now beginning to understand. I needed to hear those words.

“I—”

“Mara,” someone interrupted, cutting Wes off, and causing us both to take a step away from each other. The world came back into focus, the magic broken, and I almost choked when my eyes landed on the intruder.

“Matias?” This was awkward, being caught in one of the most intense and intimate experiences of my life by my quasi-sorta-ex . I placed a hand on my chest, fiddling with my necklace as I tried to convince my heart to slow down.

“Hey,” Matias said hesitantly, eyes flicking from me to Wes, and then back to me again. “Can we talk? Please?”

I glanced at Wes, watching as he shifted, facing away from me. “Now’s not a good time,” I said.

Matias licked his lips, desperation on the edge of his voice. “ Please .”

“Matias,” I began, facing him once more. I couldn’t do this with him right now. Not when Wes and I were—

“Just go,” Wes said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked at him. “Wes, no. I ca—”

“Go, Mara,” he repeated in a whisper. I saw it. I saw the hurt and the doubt curling up in the depths of his eyes. From one heartbeat to the next, Wes’s stoic mask shifted into place and shut me out. “Just go.”

“But—”

He didn’t let me finish. He turned and walked away, disappearing into the sea of glittering gowns and black tuxedos.