I didn’t sleep. I lay in bed with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling like it had answers. Sam eventually curled beside me on the floor, his head resting against the side of the bed, as if he knew I was unraveling and needed something solid to anchor me.
I’d told myself pushing Ivy away was necessary. But it didn’t feel right. It felt cruel. And that was the part I didn't anticipate. The guilt that came after the silence, the self-loathing that followed the distance. Thursday night had been a line in the sand. And I crossed it with both of us bleeding.
On Monday morning, the office was cold. And too quiet. Lexi passed by with her usual strut, but her gaze didn’t linger. There was a smugness there, under the surface, subtle, but it crawled beneath my skin. And I ignored it. I had to.
T
