Saint always swore he wasn’t the type to fall.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQoi1VLz15
Said it like a warning.
Like it was some concrete law written in the streets.
“I don’t do attachment. I don’t do distractions. And I damn sure don’t do women who play with fire.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6IkJvBuzs
Cute.
But here’s the thing about men like Saint:
They don’t fall when you chase them.
They fall when they start chasing you—and don’t even realize it.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaRL4Z4s1E
So no, I didn’t bat my lashes or beg for attention.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrxHcXrdMg
I hacked my way into his world.
Carefully. Quietly. Intentionally.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVOGWuFg2c
First step? I became useful.
Not pretty. Not available. Not loud.
Useful.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tTbMr0ogf
I cleaned up his digital messes before he even knew they existed.
Intercepted a hit order before it reached his ears.
Froze a backdoor wiretap planted on one of his warehouses and replaced it with a dead channel.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvILDcx6SX
Each time? I sent him proof. No names. No ego. Just results.
I became the whisper in the wires he couldn’t ignore.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchFmHDLCB6
Second step? I stayed unavailable.
No thirst traps. No late-night confessions.
When he tried to corner me, I slipped through.
When he tested me, I passed—then vanished.
I let him stew in that space between power and curiosity.
And Saint? He hates not knowing things. Especially people.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNCbXkz9H3
He’d call at 3AM just to ask,
“How’d you even find that?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW7j3cVbj8
I’d smile into the dark and say,
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz78GoeEmzV
Third step? I knew the ghosts in him.
The way he shut down when someone got too close.
The way he flinched at silence because it reminded him of being abandoned.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxKCyFgQfx
I didn’t fix him.
I just didn’t fear the broken parts.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBWMQex7h5
One night, I sent him a file.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFGDPQD9mx
Encrypted.
Inside was a folder labeled: “In Case You Forget Who You Are.”
Photos of him as a kid. A recording I pulled from a street cam of him stopping a fight before it got deadly.
Proof that somewhere inside that cold, polished kingpin was still a boy who cared.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6BNv85Ucg
He didn’t call after that.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAShxxi4EGK
But he showed up.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQ82DaC88j
At my door. Quiet. No guards. Just Saint.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mDSv2AHSo
“I don’t like how you got in my head.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsNoy501l3
“Then why’d you come?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1mI83mWsy
He didn’t answer. Just kissed me like he was mad about it.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pS7XrU9we
That’s when I knew.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJb59wxyu4J
Saint didn’t fall in love with me because I was beautiful.
He fell because I understood his code.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSq9v4Kv10n
And I never asked him to be something he wasn’t.
I just showed him he could be more—if he wanted.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7M7vI5AJz
And God help him…
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJrbQtIell
He did.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr41nPstHuN
Saint told me not to come over.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjg28QCxmMa
So naturally, I picked the lock.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnxgn14gC3
I didn’t do it out of spite. Not really.
I did it because it’d been three days since I saw him.
Three days of unanswered texts, silence, and one-word replies that didn’t match the way he used to pull me in like gravity.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwKJfUbvzY
Saint doesn’t ghost.
He retreats.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmctn0dPpDW
And I don’t wait to be wanted.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVm09zctgsK
So I bypassed his front security like a polite criminal and slipped inside through the side entrance like I belonged there—which, in my defense, I kinda did.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LRXFTmuJw
The first thing I noticed?
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAWE665ROJ
His house was spotless.
Not just clean. Sterile. Perfect. Intentional.
Every knife on the magnetic strip was aligned at the same angle. The books on his shelf were color-coded and organized by height.
The rug was vacuumed in identical horizontal stripes. Like he’d measured it. Twice.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5upF0TKWnA
I grinned.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOmC38qtgh
“You organize your cereal alphabetically too, or is that just for guests?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjlDl4XeFb
I said it out loud just as I dropped onto his couch with a bag of takeout I knew he’d pretend not to want.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZk1aUIjCO6
Footsteps. Slow. Heavy. Controlled.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWcFIRxGIz
He walked in shirtless, sweatpants hanging low on his hips, that gold chain catching the dim light like it had its own ego.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ562YUhylkK
He blinked once.
Twice.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNuCt7W3Wz
“Nova.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bWAOaNDKS
“You weren’t answering. So I let myself in.” I held up the bag. “Thai. Extra spicy. You’re welcome.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7J6keFIeY
He stared at the coffee table.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbdWXjJxst
“You moved my coasters.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUviJTbmGVH
“I did. And I’m sitting on your remote. You gonna call the cops, or you gonna eat?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfVSaDNzzC
His jaw flexed. Annoyed. Irritated.
But then something flickered in his eyes—relief, maybe. The kind he’d never admit to.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0kqohYlh2
He walked to the couch, took the food from my hand, and sat beside me.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNa9TpTFlec
“You’re exhausting.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDGRcLyGeL
“You’re dramatic.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC27yLkY8d
We ate in silence for a few minutes, until I reached for the remote and accidentally knocked over a magazine.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjZBr2A0NY
Saint froze. I swear I saw panic flash across his face.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaPAQcSZFk
He bent over, picking it up like it was made of glass, and repositioned it exactly two inches from the table edge. Lined up with the coaster I’d moved.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGurB0VB1NA
“Saint,” I said gently, eyes locked on his.
“Is that why you’ve been distant?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqC8BWOVCYt
He didn’t answer right away. He just stared at the table, hands clasped together too tightly.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLx9iAHTNs
“Everything’s loud lately,” he finally said.
Low. Almost embarrassed. “People, noise, mistakes. If one thing’s out of place, it feels like everything is.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfDjdFOE8u
That was the first time he ever told me something without being forced.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWPH6noabm
So I leaned back and slid the magazine two inches to the right. Out of line. Deliberate.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJDaaWRwyL
He looked at me, breath tight, like he was waiting for his skin to itch.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOkxYTULac
“You don’t have to keep it together with me,” I said.
“I’m chaos too. Let’s match.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuQUPb5vg0
And then, out of nowhere, he laughed.
Not a full one. Just a half-chuckle, almost like it surprised him.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDQDDIQU8M
“You really broke into my house just to mess with my coasters and make me eat noodles?”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvlB3Dycrz
“No. I broke in because I missed your stupid face.”
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpza2JVbyPO
He smiled. For real this time.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SmpZrc080
And as we sat there, legs tangled, remote buried somewhere under me, the magazine still crooked on the table…
Saint let himself lean into me.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeadjV8Zum4
Not because he was ready.
But because I was already home.
and then Add to home screen.