For years, you and Simon Riley had been trapped in the same vicious cycle. Together, apart, together again.

Every time things became serious, Simon found some excuse to pull away, always convincing himself that commitment was something he couldn’t afford. And every time, you waited. You loved him enough to wait until eventually, you couldn’t anymore.

So you ended it.

Officially. Completely. No more unanswered calls. No more late nights spent wondering if he’d finally decided he wanted you. No more hoping Simon Riley would choose you.

It destroyed you both.

Simon never said it aloud, but Price knew. Soap knew. Even Gaz knew. The man who could stare down a room full of armed enemies without blinking had become strangely quiet whenever your name came up. And you? You buried yourself in your work and pretended you’d stopped caring.

Then came the mission.

Everything had gone to hell.

Gunfire ripped through the air as explosions shook the ground, smoke swallowing entire sections of the battlefield. Soap and Gaz were pinned down in ground combat while Price piloted the helicopter overhead, Simon beside him, watching the chaos through the open side of the aircraft. Everyone was exhausted. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping anyone moving.

Then your radio went silent.

“Where’s she gone?” Simon demanded.

Static.

Nothing.

His stomach dropped.

Then Soap’s voice suddenly burst through the radio, strained and frantic.

“Ghost! We found her! She’s on the enemy’s plane!”

Simon froze.

“What?”

“You heard me! She’s in that plane! Don’t shoot!”

Simon’s eyes snapped toward the aircraft tearing across the sky.

There.

Through the smoke and chaos, he could see movement behind one of the windows. You.

You were fighting.

Alone.

Simon barely breathed.

“Don’t you fucking touch that plane,” he ordered, his voice dangerously low.

Price didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

Everyone knew exactly what was at stake.

A missile streaked through the sky.

It struck the enemy plane.

The explosion swallowed it whole. The enemy aircraft broke apart in the sky, burning fragments spiraling toward the ground.

“What the hell was that?!” Simon roared into the radio.

“They fired without clearance!” Gaz shouted.

Ghost surged toward the edge of the helicopter, staring as flaming debris scattered through the night. For one horrible second, he couldn’t see you.

Then he did.

Your body fell from the burning aircraft.

Falling.

For one horrifying second, the entire world seemed to stop.

Simon didn’t think.

“Price, get us closer.”

“Simon—”

“GET US CLOSER!”

You were tumbling through the smoke, completely helpless against gravity.

He climbed onto the edge of the helicopter, one hand gripping the frame while the other reached desperately toward you as you were falling from the sky.

The battlefield vanished.

The gunfire became nothing.

The screaming over the radio became nothing.

All Simon could see was you.

His hand stretched farther.

You were getting closer.

Then farther.

“PRICE!”

The helicopter tilted violently sideways.

Simon nearly lost his grip, but he didn’t care.

He reached again.

His fingertips caught your arm.

For a split second, he thought he’d missed.

Then his hand locked around you.

Simon yanked you toward him with everything he had.

You crashed against his chest.

The helicopter immediately leveled, leaving Simon on his knees with you trapped tightly in his arms.

He didn’t let go.

Not when Price shouted something.

Not when Soap’s voice crackled through the radio.

Not when you tried to move.

Simon simply held you against him, one arm locked around your waist and the other cradling the back of your head, his breathing ragged against your hair.

He had spent years convincing himself that letting you go was the right thing.

Now, with your heartbeat hammering against his chest, Simon finally understood just how much of a lie that had been.