CHERYL
I smiled. I nodded. I accepted congratulations from people I had never met in my life, people who were in my house—a house that wasn’t even mine.
Damon introduced me to everyone like I belonged here, like this was some grand milestone in my life worth celebrating. But the truth?
I felt like a stranger.
I wasn’t even sure what I was doing here.
The drink in my hand was growing warm, the ice melting into something tasteless. I had been nursing it for what felt like hours, using it as a prop—something to keep my hands busy, something to give me an excuse to retreat when the conversation became too much.
And yet, my mind was elsewhere.
On the door.
On the one person I hadn’t seen yet.
I told myself I wasn’t looking for him.
That I wasn’t waiting for him.
That I didn’t care wh
