Viv:
The sunlight was soft, leaking through the cracks in my blinds, warm against the cool sheets tangled around my legs. My body was sore in a hundred quiet ways—like the kind of ache that comes from crying too hard or holding yourself too tight for too long. I didn't open my eyes yet. I didn't want to. Because in the dark, in the stillness, it was easier to pretend none of it had happened. That Sterling hadn’t reappeared. That I hadn’t come apart like shattered glass in Knox’s arms.
But then I felt him—solid, warm, breathing slow and deep next to me.
Knox.
His arm was slung low around my waist, fingers splayed across my stomach like he was trying to memorize me in his sleep. My breath hitched before I could stop it.
He shifted.
I knew he was awake before he spoke. His body tensed,
