Cole
I didn’t leave because I was done.
I left because staying would’ve ruined everything.
The sky was still dark when I rolled the bike out from behind the building, careful not to let the engine bark too loud. I kept my movements controlled, the way I did before a fight. Quiet. Deliberate. No wasted motion.
I hadn’t slept.
I hadn’t planned to.
Her place was too small. Too warm. Too full of her. The way she’d curled into the mattress like she was bracing for impact even in sleep had done something to me I didn’t have language for.
I couldn’t stay.
Men like me didn’t wake up in borrowed beds and pretend it meant nothing. We either left clean or we stayed and took over space that wasn’t ours.
I chose clean.
The road was empty, streetlights blurring past as I headed back toward the
