Please Don't Go (The Midnight Strike, #1)

by E. Salvador

“I’m so happy you’re here.”

“Your favorite color is yellow, but you don’t like neon yellow.”

Pulling the chair back, he settles down next to me, and sets his bag on the floor. He turns to look at me, eyes flashing with glee before they soften. Then he leans closer and whispers, “I’m so happy you’re here, Josefine.”

My brows knit. “Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because I am.” He sounds so earnest, the words feel warm, like sitting in front of a fireplace,...

Holy shit, did I just make Josefine smile?

We’re only eight days into the year, but I think that’s probably going to be the highlight of it.

I don’t know who gave up on her, but I know I won’t.

“I’m not doing this because he slept with Amanda. Don’t get me wrong, I was pissed at first, but I genuinely don’t care anymore. I’m doing this because he fucked with you and that, I’m not okay with,” he gravely says.

“That’s good to hear. I don’t know what or who I’d be without my finger.”

“You’d still be you and that’s all that matters,” he softly says.

“What’s the special occasion?”

You being alive. You being here. You letting me in. You.

“I got you,” she softly and earnestly says, but more than anything, it sounds like a promise and I believe her.

“My brain short-circuits when I’m around you,” he honestly replies.

“I wanted to. Pen says it’s my love language or whatever that’s called.”

Grief…never gets easier. It keeps evolving and all you can do is adapt to it because it’s always going to be there.”

He tucks a finger underneath my chin, forcing me to look into his soft, cloud-like eyes. “Very.” He smiles tenderly and something about it feels like a caress to my soul. It ignites the light in my heart again. “You’re not alone.”

“I don’t have an emergency contact but⁠—” “Put me down,” he casually supplies and grabs the masher just as casually. Actually, everything he’s doing seems like something he regularly does.

“I’m into anything you do,” he murmurs just as quietly and playfully. Then he winks at me and we part.

“I needed this. I needed you,” he murmurs against my chest, the deep rasp of his voice vibrating against me. The wick in my heart lights back up, easily and instantaneously, almost as if it had never been out. I hate that I let it happen and most of all hate how the single flame warms my entire body.

“They matter too, you know.” I cradle his cheek, gently caressing it with the pad of my thumb. “You matter, Daniel.”

“Use me,” he desperately fills, cutting me off so urgently I almost don’t think I heard him right until he repeats it. “Use me. Distract me. I don’t care what you do but use me.”

“As long as it’s okay with you.” I nod and then he asks, “Can I put my arm over you?”

He literally had his mouth on me and fingers inside me, yet he’s still asking for permission to do that? There’s no way he’s real. I must be dead because guys like him don’t exist.

“Yeah, well, shit happens.” I shrug unremorsefully. “He shouldn’t have called her easy…called her anything. I wasn’t bluffing last time and I won’t now or ever.”

“About everything. Before you say it’s not my fault, I’m still sorry. I know it changes nothing, but I hate those who made you think…who made you feel…who…I hate them so much.”

When I said I like you, I meant I like every version of you. That includes all the moments whether they’re good or bad. That means all your little expressions, all your dry snarky comments, all your smiles, laughs, and everything that comes from you. I like it all, Josefine. I know it’s hard for you to open up. I know it’s scary and I know this is probably a lot for you, but I am here and as long as you want me in your life, I’m not going anywhere. So…” I bring my lips to her forehead and kiss it but let them linger there. “I’ll give you a moment. Take your time. I have forever.”

“Annoyed? Baby, I want the whole universe to know you’re mine.”

“Being with you has made me the happiest and most peaceful person I’ve ever been in my life. Being with you felt like getting a restart in life. Being with you made me feel like me again.”

“There’s nothing I need to think about.” I cling to him, and I’m just as desperate as he sounds. “I want us, this, everything, all of it. I need you. I’m not perfect and I have issues, a lot of them—that I’m working on—but I want to be here for you, Daniel. I want you to let me in and share your pain with me. Share what you feel on the good, bad, and in-between days. I told you once and I’ll tell you again: Don’t hide from me, please. Let me in.”

I tug back, leveling my gaze with his amber eyes that fuel my soul on fire. “I’ll love you even on the dark days.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “You sound like the girl I love.”

“You know, you are loving. Don’t ever feel like you’re not. I don’t need you to be loud about loving me or do big gestures to show me that you do. I know that you do, in the way you hold me, how you see me, how you let me in, how you accept me for me. You are loving, Josefine, and I’m privileged to be the one you choose to love.”

“Because you are worth it.” He draws back a little and hooks a finger under my chin, making me look up at him. “You are worth it, Josefine.”

I don’t stop stroking his cheek. “If you let me in, I’ll hold a flashlight, and we’ll find a way out together.”

“I’m okay. I promise I’m not sad; I just feel so much for you. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express it the way that you do. But I’ll try to do my best to show you, to be here, to make sure you know that I see you. I want every version of you and nothing, and I mean literally nothing, will ever change how I feel about you. I’m not going anywhere. I promise you I’m not.”

Me: I know fate is real. I know because you exist