Knox POV
Hours pass and I don’t sleep, not at first. I just watch her, the way her brow furrows slightly even in sleep, how her hand twitches when she shifts. Then, somewhere in the early morning, her eyes flutter open. She doesn’t speak, just looks at me with that sleepy daze like she’s unsure if I’m real or just part of a dream.
And then she moves, slowly, without hesitation. She curls into me and guides my arm around her. I exhale the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, and shift closer, holding her tighter, anchoring her to me. She settles, her face pressed to my chest, her legs tangled with mine, and eventually, I drift off too.
When I wake again, it’s to her eyes watching me. She’s wide awake now, but I see it all in her face—the confusion, the shame, the fear. She opens her m
