KIMBERLY'S POV
"I've done it again." The words tumbled forth from my lips in a bitter murmur as I sat and stared at my shaking hands on the bed. I just couldn't get this crippling feeling from inside my chest, like I'd blown it-again.
Xavier’s care and kindness lingered in my mind like an unwelcome ghost. Every gentle word, every touch, all of it felt like a trick, a prelude to inevitable disappointment. People didn’t treat others well without expecting something in return. I’d learned that lesson the hard way.
It hit me like a fist: the memory of a weak younger me collapsing onto the cold kitchen floor of my adoptive parents' house, the scornful laughter still ringing in my ears to mock my weakness. My fists clenched. Never again.
Yet, here I was, my emotions burrowing deep
