Nathaniel’s POV
The morning felt heavy on my chest, though the sun streamed brightly through my curtains as if it had no care in the world. I had barely slept, tossing between guilt and desire, two forces that refused to leave me alone. Jason’s voice kept ringing in my head, the way he had so casually spoken about spending the night with another woman, like it was nothing. My best friend, my brother in everything but blood, laughing as he told me how wild the night was, warning that his mother must never find out, nor the press.
It should have made things easier for me, knowing he didn’t take Ava seriously, knowing she was only in this for the arrangement their parents forced. But instead, it made the weight heavier. Because Ava wasn’t just “someone” to me. She wasn’t just a woman in Jas
