PHOENIX:
I slammed the apartment door behind me, tossing my keys into the tray by habit, my boots scuffing the floor as I walked in. The scent of motor oil still clung to me like a second skin. I peeled off my grimy clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the water burn down my back, hoping it’d wash away the memory of him in the shop today.
Ryder f*****g Santori.
God, he had some nerve. Strolling into my space like he still belonged there. Like he didn’t vanish the second things got complicated. Like he didn’t leave me with a hundred things unsaid and a heart that took years to toughen back up.
I scrubbed harder, until my skin turned pink. But it wasn’t enough.
Because no amount of hot water could cool the heat that still burned under my ribs. The tension coiled in my gut like a
