LUCY
I lay perfectly still beneath the covers, counting my breaths.
In. Out. Slow and even breaths.
The bedroom was dark, with just a thin line of moonlight coming through the curtains. Sam’s arm lay heavy across my waist, his breathing slow and deep. If anyone saw us, they’d think I was asleep, not noticing anything around me or what he was doing.
Inside, every nerve was screaming.
I waited. I knew what was coming. He’d been acting this way all week, maybe even longer, and it felt like everything changed after he started pulling away. Sam used to talk to me about everything, but now he was quiet and hard to read. His laughter, once loud in the house, had become rare and empty. Now he stayed close to me, not to comfort me, but to watch me, and he made quiet, cutting remarks with the c
