Aidan had seen a lot of loss in his life. He'd dealt with a lot of it too, so he understood where she was coming from. No matter how often you lost people, that never made losing the next one any easier. Not forming attachments may save you from that heartache, but it slowly ate away at your humanity. In the end, you didn't hurt from the loss, but you weren't a person anymore.


He knew that this sort of thing was fleeting, just like she feared, but that meant you had to seize it, not run away from it. You might not ever get another chance.

"Rachel," he said, stepping closer. "Lonely is never better."

Just to prove it to her, he pulled her close and kissed her.