I couldn’t sleep.
Maybe it was because of how close Cole had been earlier, the way his breath had brushed my cheek like he was seconds away from doing something we’d never be able to reverse. Or maybe it was because I couldn’t stop replaying every little thing I’d learned in the past forty-eight hours. The photograph. The accusations. The almost-kiss I still felt tingling at the edge of my mouth.
Whatever it was, my brain wasn’t shutting off tonight.
The room was quiet except for the soft hum of the ceiling fan. Outside, the ocean kept doing what oceans do—crashing, sighing, whispering secrets into the night. Cole was still awake, sitting on his side of the room in the armchair near the window. He thought I didn’t notice when he stayed up like this, staring at the world like he was afra
