** Paige’s POV **
I knew it was Ryder in the street in front of me, even from behind I recognise him.
His name slips from my mouth without permission, and he turns in my direction, making my heart feel as though it drops into my stomach.
I’m not ready.
I’d told myself I was. I’ve rehearsed every possible version of what I’d say if I ever saw him again. But none of it matters. Because the moment Ryder is in front of me, everything inside me collapses. Six years vanished in a breath.
He is still a foot taller than me, intensely familiar. The same broad shoulders, the same ocean-blue eyes that once looked at me with admiration, only now they are heavier, haunted even. His jaw is sharper, his face a little leaner, a little more shadowed. Maybe life hadn’t been kind to him either. But God
