{Casper’s POV}
My arms were crossed as I waited tirelessly for him. My boot tapped a restless rhythm against the ground. The afternoon air still has that sharp bite to it crisp and pure, with the aroma of pine and wet soil still sticking from the morning's dew.
The birds were chirping, but their songs couldn’t cool off the storm fuming inside me.
He was late.
Very unlike him.
Aurelius was a lot of things. From cold and calculated, to meticulous and ruthless, but he was never late.
I exhaled slowly, trying not to pace.
Maybe it was the argument with Mom that had me overthinking. She always knew how to push every reaction and she studied them herself. And maybe she did. But I pushed back this time, harder than ever.
That look in her eyes when I stepped out? Yeah, it damaged me. Still
