KIMANI
Alaric had been acting weird lately, which, honestly, was shocking. The man was never weird. He was all about precision, timing, structure, and control. If he said dinner was at seven, it was exactly at seven. If he said he’d call at eight, your phone would ring at 8:00 p.m. sharp. There were no surprises with Alaric Walker.
Until this week.
He’d been quiet but… not in his usual stoic way. His texts had been shorter, his glances softer. Every time I caught him looking at me, he had this faint, secretive smile — the kind that made my stomach twist and my brain scream what are you hiding?
I tried to ignore it. Maybe he was just busy. Maybe I was overthinking it.
Until Friday afternoon.
When I walked into my room after work, the first thing that caught my eye was color — soft pas
