Elle’s POV
The next morning, I told myself it was a dream.
The night, his voice, his nearness—it couldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. Because if I kept replaying it in my head, I’d unravel.
So, I did what I always did. I focused on Liam.
He showed up at my doorstep with coffee and that boyish grin that always managed to undo me. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead. Big day.”
I blinked at him, hair still a mess from sleep. “Big day?”
“Movie marathon. Your favorite snacks. You promised,” he said, holding up a bag of chips like it was evidence.
And just like that, I melted. This was what mattered. This was what was safe. Liam was the constant—the one who had been there since scraped knees and broken pencils. He knew me better than anyone.
The entire day, I let myself get lost in him.
We spr
