Maya’s POV
The silence between us was heavy, a thick, suffocating blanket that even the distant, thumping bass from the Obsidian Lounge couldn’t penetrate. My chest was heaving, my lungs burning as I drew in short, jagged plumes of white air against the freezing night.
Every nerve in my body was screaming at me to leave, but my feet felt glued to the cold pavement. The air felt dangerous yet coaxing me to stay.
"Tell me you don't care, Maya," Cole whispered again. His voice was a little more than a ghost of a sound, yet it shattered the last bit of my composure.
I swallowed hard, my eyes darting frantically to the side-- to the dark street, the glowing neon sign, anywhere but at his face.
"I don't care, Cole," I said.
The words came out, but even to my own ears, the conviction
