KATIE WOKE TO SUNLIGHT reflected into Brendan’s room by the building across the street. She felt like an ant set up to burn under a magnifying glass.
She looked over at him in the other bed. She’d woken up with him so many times in the last two decades. All the times they’d shared a room on the road, all the times they’d shared a bed just to be close, all the times they’d crashed at each other’s apartments. Despite her attempts to date over the years, she’d never been able to make sense of everyone else’s expectations about relationships. But she could imagine waking up next to Brendan every day.
That wasn’t going to happen in this life, though. She hadn’t managed to tell him about everything that needed to happen surrounding her knee. Shame settled as a cold, uncomfortable weight in her
