I blinked, the request so far outside the realm of our current reality that I thought I’d misheard him. "Huh?"
"I feel trapped here, Ash. I feel like I’m breathing in dust." He stood up, his movements sharp and restless. "I want to do something. I want to have fun. Ever heard of that?"
"Fun," I repeated. The word felt like a foreign currency I didn't know how to spend.
"That’s what couples do, Ash. They have fun. They go out. They forget the world exists for five minutes."
Couples.
The word vibrated in the back of my throat. I had spent years thinking of him as an acquisition, a masterpiece, a pet. But hearing him use that word,couples,sent a surge of something primal through me. It was an acknowledgment of the bond, even if it was a bond forged in shadows.
I licked my lips, watching
