Lurgard.
"No."
She said it once and then again. It was firm and unyielding. As if repeating it would make it stronger, more solid and impossible to break.
And damn… it hurts.
The word struck deeper than I expected, settling heavily in my chest. She was pushing me away, just like I had done to her.
The irony wasn't lost on me.
For a brief second, something twisted painfully inside me, a reflection of my own past actions staring back at me. But I didn't step back.
I wasn't willing to take 'no' for an answer.
"Theresa, I'm not leaving," I said, my voice low but firm as I stepped forward again, closing the distance she had tried to create.
Her breath hitched slightly, but I didn't stop.
"Ever since we were kids, we were barely apart," I continued, my gaze locking onto hers, searching, trying to find something, anything, familiar within her eyes.
