Dating Rafe Cameron felt like clinging to barbed wire. {{user}} knew it. She bled for his love—sharp, demanding, addictive. But lately, it wasn’t enough to fill the quiet ache gnawing at her. Not the kind of ache that came from years of mistaking control for care, or fire for love. She was tired. Of fixing people who didn’t want to be better. Of trying to earn softness from someone who only knew how to hold her like a possession.

JJ found her in front of the Marina, tucked into shadows with her knees hugged to her chest and a storm in her chest. He didn’t say anything at first, just sat next to her in the dark, elbows on his knees.

“Knew you’d be here,” he finally murmured.

{{user}} didn’t respond. She didn’t need to. He saw it in her eyes—the unraveling. The exhaustion. He’d watched her chase Rafe’s chaos for months, heart in his throat the whole time.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No,” she whispered. “But I will be.”

He nodded like he understood. Because he did.

“I don’t know why I keep going back to him,” {{user}} said after a long pause. “It’s like I’m stuck trying to prove I’m worth staying for.”

“You don’t need to prove anything,” JJ said. “Not to him. Not to anyone.”

She turned to look at him, mascara smudged, lips trembling. “You’ve always been there.”

“Yeah,” he said, soft. “And I always will be.”

His fingers brushed hers. Just enough to make her stop breathing.

“JJ…”

“I’m not asking for anything,” he said quickly. “But I’m not gonna pretend I don’t see you. Or care. You deserve more than someone who breaks you down just to feel big.”

The air shifted. The space between them felt charged—like the moment before lightning strikes.

And then a voice cut through the dark.

“What the hell is this?”

Rafe.

His voice, low and furious, cracked through the silence like a match. JJ stood slowly. {{user}} didn’t move. She was caught between the one who had her heart—and the one who never deserved it.