Riley’s POV
The hush outside the café felt almost unreal. The beach stretched out before us with only a few people scattered in the distance, their voices swallowed by the rhythm of the tide. The water moved in steady waves, soft and unhurried, so unlike the storm inside my chest.
Aria walked beside me, her arms folded against the light breeze. Normally she would have filled the silence with a dozen thoughts, half of them ridiculous, the other half sharper than they had any right to be. But now she kept her eyes ahead, lips pressed tight, as though she already knew the weight of what I was carrying.
I slowed at the edge of a low stone wall where the sand curved inward. “Let’s sit here,” I said. My voice came out quieter than I meant, but Aria didn’t question it. She sank down beside me,
