Matt barely registered the click of his car door as he closed it, the gentle sound drowned out by the chaos in his mind.**
He had spent the entire drive home replaying the evening in his head, trying to piece together where it all went wrong. As he turned off the engine, he sighed, long and heavy, as though the weight of the night could somehow escape through his breath. He opened the door to the house with the same drained energy, his shoulders slumped, his spirit battered.
Inside, Alice sat curled up on the couch, the glow of the TV casting a flickering light over her face as she laughed at whatever comedy she was watching. A bowl of popcorn rested on her lap, and she didn’t even look up when the door clicked shut behind him.
“How was the date?” she asked, her voice buoyant with ex
