Cadens POV
Baylee’s laughter echoes beside me, warm and alive, and I let it wash over the tightness in my chest. The lake is loud with joy—splashing kids, barking wolves, someone playing music on a speaker too far away to scold. But even with all that noise, all I can hear is him.
Matt.
He’s sitting on Baylee’s other side, watching the kids with that unreadable look he always wears when something’s eating him alive. Arms folded behind his head, jaw locked, eyes heavy with thoughts he’s not saying out loud.
And I feel it. That dread crawling up my spine.
Baylee hugs him like she’s still ten, and he pulls her in without hesitation. That should ease me. It doesn’t.
Because I killed Craig.
I feel the tension climb in my throat like a noose. I look away. Try to focus on the way Aspen fl
