IVA
My heart thudded so violently in my chest that it almost hurt. I turned fully toward Nik, words tangling uselessly on my tongue. “M-my brother? I-I don’t-”
But Nik stepped in front of me before I could work any of it out, closing the distance with that urgent, restless energy he always had when he was spiraling.
“He was off with me this morning,” he said. “He obviously hates me, Iva. He thinks you shouldn’t be with someone like me.”
Relief shot through me so fast and so intensely that my knees almost buckled. I actually stumbled back, breath leaving my lungs in a rush. I had expected the worst; my mind was racing in a very different and dangerous direction. But this… this I could handle.
“I know I’m nowhere near your league, Iva,” Nik added quietly, and my head finally snapped up,
