Page 136 of Save Your Breath

I looked up to the sky next, hoping for strength to come from a god I didn’t believe in, and then I turned, ready to make my way back inside and do what I had to do.

But my eyes caught on a figure down the block.

It was just a glimpse, one I almost ignored as the bouncer nodded at me and opened the door I’d just come out of. But then I did a double take.

And there she was.

Oversized sweatshirt and biker shorts. Messy hair piled on her head. Glasses.

Mia.

My Mia.

A black SUV lurked just behind her. James stood only a few feet from her back, one hand clasping the opposite wrist in front of him. He was stoic and still, but I saw him subtly cataloging everything, ready to act if needed.

Mia.

She’s here.

She didn’t go.

I blinked, once, just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

And then I ran to her.

Mine

Mia

He ran to me.

The first step was slow, hesitant, unsure.

The second was solid, steady, determined.

And then his strides were long, each one making my breaths come harder, the tears in my eyes welling too fast to stop before they spilled over my cheeks.

I couldn’t move. I stood rooted to the spot by the SUV, James at my back and a thousand phone camera flashes going off from the line of people outside the bar while Aleks ran to me.

His eyes never wavered.

His steps never slowed.

And I choked on a sob the second he wrapped me in his arms.

“Please don’t make me do this.”

He crushed me to him, his arms hard and hot around me as he kissed my hair and mumbled the words again in my ear.

“Please, Mia. Please don’t make me do this.”

“I thought this was what you wanted,” I croaked, clinging to him, hands fisting in his dress shirt as fresh tears dampened the fabric on his chest.

“All I’ve ever wanted is you.”

And then his lips were on mine.

It was a claiming kiss — his hands in my hair, fingers curling around my neck, thumbs caressing my jaw. His lips were warmand firm and insistent, seeking more more more until I opened for him and melted and relented and surrendered.