I sat on the couch, one knee pulled up, the other leg tucked beneath me, staring out the open front door. Alaric had propped it open and now the cool late-autumn air drifted through the house. It brushed against my skin, carrying that crisp, damp scent of fallen leaves.
I breathed it in like it might settle the storm in my head.
It didn’t.
My gaze followed the empty porch, the yard beyond, the path that led down the hill where they’d gone. Sage and Tyler had been gone for… how long now? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Maybe more. The sound of their car had long faded, leaving only the rustle of branches and the occasional creak of the old house as company.
And yet, even with them gone, Tyler’s words—his look—still clung to me.
Fine. That’s what he’d said when Alaric offered to stay with me.
