Rayla and Asher didn’t stay long with the others after the awkward encounter with Silvia. The weight of the evening hung heavy in the air, and though the group tried to lighten the mood, Asher’s tension was palpable. Rayla, ever perceptive, could feel the storm brewing beneath his calm exterior.
Without a word, she took his hand and led him back to her dorm, leaving the others to their movie night. Once inside, the silence between them was comfortable, though charged with unspoken questions. Rayla wanted to ask about Silvia—about the pain she had clearly caused him, about the history that seemed to haunt him even now. But she was smarter than that. She knew that prying into his past, especially when he was already so vulnerable, wouldn’t help. Instead, she focused on comforting him, on
