Heads, they keep it friendly. Tails, they let love win.
WARNER
I know what it costs to love and lose. And I pay that price again the moment I see Campbell.
She’s Michigan royalty with unlimited open doors. I’m an Army veteran, sleeping on a friend’s couch after a recent POTS diagnosis stripped away the only identity I’ve ever known.
I shouldn’t allow myself to be pulled into her orbit, especially when she’s vulnerable. She needs safety, distance, and control. The exact opposite of what I feel when we’re together.
Anything more than friendship would tether her to my instability. I’d become a weight for her to carry. An excuse she’d have to make. And I refuse to be selfish or risk falling for someone I could never keep.
CAMPBELL
Warner is scars and sacrifice wrapped in quiet strength with a heart too big for his own good. The most maddening, magnetic man I’ve ever met.
He keeps me at arm’s length like he’s protecting me from something. Like I haven’t worn armor my entire life—always being told I’m too much and not enough at the same time. But with him, I don’t have to shrink. He sees me. Defends me. Makes space for me, even when he’s struggling to cope.
If only he could see he’s not broken. Not a burden. Just mine.
But how can I hold on to him—help him, love him—if he’s already convinced he must let me go?
