CELESTE
I had not expected happiness to feel like warmth settling into the coldest corners of my bones, like a softness I had forgotten I was allowed to feel. Being with Knox had become something dangerously addictive, a comfort I found myself reaching for even when I didn’t mean to. Every morning, I woke tangled in his arms, and a strange, shimmering contentment circled my chest, as if my ribs had finally unclenched after years of being a means to several ends and used by people who were supposed to love me.
I loved the way he held me when he slept. I loved how his fingertips skimmed my back with absent-minded affection whenever he walked past me. I loved how he looked at me like he was quietly memorizing me, cataloging every movement. I even loved how he smiled at me like I was the vic
