Chapter 21: Her Voice
The office was quiet again.
Thomas had long gone, leaving behind only the lingering echo of his words, laced with wisdom, sarcasm, and friendship.
Zeke sat alone behind his desk, the weight of his thoughts pressing down harder than the folders scattered before him. He wasn’t reading. He wasn’t working. His gaze was fixed on nothing, lost in the whirlwind of memories and what-ifs.
"Chase her. Find her. Make her fall in love with you."
It sounded simple when Thomas said it. Almost cinematic. But Zeke had played that scene in his head a hundred times, finding Cassidy, telling her everything he never said, watching her face twist in shock, maybe anger, or worse... disappointment.
He didn’t want that.
He didn’t want to corner her with his feelings. To chase her down only to become a burden. To make her feel like she owed him something just because he had finally figured out what she meant to him.
Cassidy didn’t need that kind of pressure.
She deserved peace.
He leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly as he stared up at the ceiling, blinking hard. His chest tightened with the ache he could never quite shake off.
So much had changed in the last few years. Including him.