Layla’s POV
I didn’t realize how easy it was to breathe until I caught myself doing it.
Chloe was laughing again. Real laughing. The kind that comes from the belly and spills out without warning. She leaned back against a picnic table, one boot hooked on the rung, beer balanced easy in her hand like she’d been born holding one. Grizz stood close, not crowding her, just there—big shadow, soft grin. They talked with their heads tilted together, laughing at things I couldn’t hear over the guitar and the fire.
She looked comfortable.
Too comfortable, too fast.
I took another beer from the cooler and twisted the cap off hard, metal biting into my palm. The foam bubbled up and I gulped it down before it could spill. Cold burned my throat. I welcomed it.
I wasn’t jealous of Grizz. Not real
