Emily’s POV
I didn’t know when it started happening.
Maybe it was the way Dalton always had this warm, easy smile when he looked at me. Or maybe it was the way he always seemed to know when my ankle was about to give out and he’d be there before I even stumbled. Or maybe it was the little things—like the way he’d pass me a plate before serving himself, or how he pretended not to notice when I was staring at him too long.
Either way… I was slowly falling for him.
Not in that sudden, fireworks-burst kind of way you see in movies. No, this was… different. It was like waking up in the morning and realizing the sun’s already been shining through your window for a while—you just hadn’t noticed.
And the scary part? I wasn’t afraid anymore.
For the first time since this whole mess started, I
