Bailey’s POV
I stayed in my room after Raven left, sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor, like if I stood up too fast I would chase after him and I refused to do that because I was tired of always being the one who bent first, tired of feeling like I had to shrink so people would explain things to me gently.
“I didn’t even mean it like that,” I muttered to myself, staring at the wall. “I just asked.”
The silence in the room pressed on me and my chest felt tight. I kept replaying the expression on his face when I said her name, the way something in him shut down so fast it scared me, and for a second I wondered if I had crossed some invisible line I was never meant to cross.
But then my pride kicked in.
“No,” I said out loud. “If I go after him now, he’ll think I’m a
