He shook his head, warning me to let him finish. I swallowed my arguments as his hand tightened on the back of my neck.
“You are going to survive this. I’ll make sure of it. You’re the reason I didn’t go down the same path as Geo. I was already shutting everything out. It wouldn’t have taken much longer for me to lose the last shred of empathy I’d been holding on to.
“I used to think the others in the group were my family. But they were bound by blind loyalty. You have every reason to hate me, yet you’re the only one who sees straight through me. And I keep waiting for you to put an end to whatever we have. Because I sure as fuck don’t deserve the warmth you’ve given me.”
“You do,” I interrupted firmly, my heart hammering. “You do deserve it.”
“When I look at you, I see a future outside this small town. Outside the group. And I want it. So damn bad.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “But for you to be free of all this, the group needs to be brought down. And unless we find some miracle, that includes me too.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “I’ve lost so much. I don’t want to lose you too. These last three weeks without you, they’ve been horrible. I missed you. Our talks. Your touch. Even our bickering. Everything.”
He smiled sadly. “You wouldn’t be losing anything, Sage. You’d be living the life you were meant to.”
“We’ll figure it out.” I grabbed the front of his shirt. “We’ll find a way to keep you separate from the group. Because I have to do this, Niko. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.”
“I know. You can’t survive in a trapped life. Your spirit burns too bright for that, Sage.”
“You’re choosing me over the society,” I whispered, flutters swarming my stomach.
He grabbed my cheeks, tilting my face up. “I will choose you over everything. Always.”
With those words, his lips crashed to mine.