Unloved

by Katy Regnery

Deep inside, something that had almost given up on life knows for sure that it’s completely, vibrantly alive again, and my heart laughs because I barely remember happiness like this, but it’s here, and it’s now, and it’s Cassidy holding me in his arms and kissing me for the first time.

She is everything I want that I can’t have, more and more necessary for survival, which means it will destroy me when I let her go. I know this. And yet, I cannot slow down or take less. I love her. I will love her until the sky falls. Until the sun and moon fail to rise. Until Katahdin crumbles. I will love her forever.

I hear a low, guttural sob fill the room, and at first I don’t realize it’s me, because I’m not crying. I’m just . . . in awe, and that’s how awe sounds. I don’t know how to feel this much love for someone. It hurts to love her this much.

“You are . . .,” he murmurs breathily, moving his hips up experimentally as his tongue darts out to wet his lips, “the greatest . . . treasure . . . of my entire life.”