EMBER’S POV
“Ember?” His voice shifts from playful to panicked in half a second. He pulls back, trying to see my face in the darkness, his hands cupping my cheeks. “Baby, what’s wrong? Did I say something? f**k, was it the goat joke? That was too soon, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“No.” I’m laughing and crying at the same time, which is humiliating and messy and I can’t seem to stop either one. “No, it’s not you. I just…”
“Just what? Talk to me. What do you need?”
“I’m just…” The words come out broken, hiccupping. “It’s actually over. I’m never going back to him. I’m never going to wake up wondering if today’s the day he finally kills me. I’m never going to flinch at footsteps or hide bruises or lie about how I got hurt.” The tears are falling faster now. “It’s over. It’s actually ove
