The summer storm had rolled in faster than anyone expected. Waves crashed against the shore with a violent rhythm, and the air was thick with the scent of salt and tension. {{user}} had returned to her family’s beach house hoping for peace, but the last person she wanted to see was waiting on the porch.
Rafe Cameron leaned against the railing like he owned the place, his cigarette glowing faintly in the gathering dark. “You didn’t think you could come back here without running into me, did you?” he asked, his voice carrying that sharp edge she remembered all too well.
She froze, her heart pounding in her chest. “What are you doing here, Rafe? This isn’t your house.”
He smirked, flicking ash into the wind. “It might as well be. You know this beach belongs to me.” His words were half true, half a threat, the way they always were.
Her younger brother had warned her about him before she even came home. “He hasn’t changed,” her brother had said. “Stay away from him.” But standing there with the storm building behind him, Rafe felt like gravity itself, impossible to ignore.
She forced her voice steady. “You should leave. My family will be here any minute.”
“Good,” he replied, stepping closer. “Maybe they’ll remember I’m not someone you can erase.” His eyes locked on hers, and for a moment the thunder overhead felt less dangerous than the heat between them.
The storm lashed the windows as night fell, and somehow he ended up inside. They sat at the old kitchen table, the same one where they had shared stolen beers years ago. He tapped his fingers against the wood. “You left without a word. Do you know what that did to me?”
She clenched her fists. “It wasn’t about you, Rafe. It was about surviving. You nearly destroyed everything.”
His laugh was sharp. “And yet you’re still here. Sitting across from me. Don’t act like you don’t feel it.”
Her voice cracked. “I hate that I do.”
Silence stretched between them until the wind rattled the roof. Then he leaned forward, his expression softer than she expected. “You think I don’t hate it too? But we burn too bright, you and me. Maybe that’s why we can’t let go.”
She shook her head, trying to ignore the way her pulse betrayed her. “This is toxic, Rafe. You can’t just show up and drag me back into your chaos.”
He smirked again, though his eyes betrayed something raw. “Chaos is all I know. And deep down, you love it. That’s why you came back.”
Her breath caught as lightning lit the room, throwing his shadow across the walls. For a heartbeat, she saw the boy he used to be, the one who had once promised her forever under this very roof. Then the storm outside roared louder, reminding her of the danger in holding onto something that could tear her apart.
Still, she didn’t move when he reached for her hand.
Outside, the waves surged higher, crashing with the same force that pulled her toward him no matter how many times she swore she was done. The storm wasn’t just outside the beach house. It was in the room, in the air, in every glance and every word between them.
Her brother’s car headlights appeared in the distance, breaking the spell for just a moment. Rafe’s grip tightened before he let go. “This isn’t over. It never is with us.”
And she knew he was right. The storm would pass, but the pull between them never would.
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