Chapter 36 — Amara: Let Go
( Amara's POV)
"I can't do this."
I said it again for the third time in ten minutes, standing in front of the mirror, dressed in a burgundy strapless dress that hugged me in all the right and wrong places. I couldn't tell if I looked beautiful or just… exposed.
Zariah groaned from behind me. "You said that before we even got into the Uber, and again outside the club. Babe, you are here now. It's your birthday. Twenty-three. You said you wanted something different this year, remember?"
I turned around, wrapping my arms across my chest like a shield. "I know. I did. But this doesn't feel like me."
Zariah placed both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. "You spend so much time thinking and planning and holding back. Tonight is about letting go. Just one night, Amara. Let your hair down, take a breath, and live a little. Please. For me. For you."
I swallowed hard, heart hammering. I was never the party girl. Never the bold one. Always the sensible one. But lately… that version of me felt hollow. Like I was watching life pass by through a window.
I looked at my reflection again.
Tonight, I looked like someone else.
Someone fearless.
Someone who didn't wait for life to happen.
I took a shaky breath and whispered, "Okay. Just tonight."
Zariah grinned and pulled me toward the crowd pulsing inside the club. The music was already vibrating through my bones, the air hot and electric with energy. Lights flashed like stardust across glossy floors, people moving like they were born to belong here.
I wasn't.
But I wanted to try.
Zariah disappeared quickly, swept away by a tall guy she once swore she hated. Typical.
I made my way to the bar, needing something to sip, something to hold in my hands. I ordered the sweetest thing they had and stared down into the glass like it might calm the nerves storming in my chest.
I felt out of place. Like a kid in grown-up shoes.
And then I felt it.
A presence behind me. Someone watching.
I didn't look up at first.
I could already feel the heat of his gaze, sharp and heavy, like it reached past my skin and pulled at something deeper.
And then he stepped beside me.
"Rough night?" a low voice asked, smooth like melted chocolate.
I looked up.
And almost forgot how to breathe.
He was tall. Broad shoulders wrapped in a perfectly fitted black shirt, sleeves rolled just enough to reveal his forearms. His face was chiseled, almost unreal — high cheekbones, strong jaw, dark, intense eyes that looked like they'd seen too much and yet still wanted more.
"I… what?" I said, blinking like an idiot.
He smiled a little. "You looked like your mind was somewhere far away."
I managed a small laugh. "Maybe it is."
He nodded to my drink. "Mind if I join you?"
I hesitated.
Stranger. Birthday. Club. Drink.
All the warnings my mother once gave me came flooding in.
But then I remembered what I told Zariah.
Just tonight.
No regrets.
I gave him a nod.
He slid into the space beside me, his presence quiet but commanding. He didn't push conversation right away, just sat there like he belonged, like he wasn't surprised I said yes.
I glanced sideways at him. "You always talk to random girls in bars?"
"Only the ones who look like they're thinking about leaving," he said with a smirk.
I bit my lip to hide a smile.
"Name?" I asked.
He shrugged. "You can call me E."
That made me raise a brow. "Just E?"
"For now."
I could've asked more, but I didn't want to ruin the mystery.
"Alright, E," I said, turning toward him slightly. "I'm Am—" I stopped. For some reason, I didn't want him to know my real name. I wanted to be someone else tonight. Someone braver. "I'm Mara."
His smile deepened, but he didn't question it.
"So, Mara. What's the occasion?"
I hesitated, then said, "My birthday."
His eyes flickered with interest. "Happy birthday."
"Thanks," I said, then added before I could stop myself, "I wanted to do something different tonight. Something I wouldn't forget."
He leaned in slightly. "That so?"
"Yeah." I met his gaze, holding it for the first time.
There was something in his eyes — not hunger, not lust, but interest. Curiosity. Like he wanted to see the real me, not just what I wore.
"You look like you don't do this often," he said, softer now.
I shook my head. "I don't."
"Then why now?"
I glanced down at my glass. "Because I'm tired of waiting. Of watching everyone else feel something, fall in love, live… while I stay safe. I don't want to be safe anymore. I just want to be free."
He was quiet for a second. Then he said, "That makes two of us."
I looked up.
And in that moment, we weren't strangers.
We were two people standing on the same edge, ready to fall just for the thrill of it.
The space between us felt electric.
And when he gently brushed his fingers over mine, I didn't pull away.
I let the moment happen.
Let the night swallow me whole.
Because for once — for the first time in my life — I didn't want to think.
I just wanted to feel.