|Serena's POV|
I wake to the sound of rain tapping against the windows like a secret too shy to knock. The room is dim, blue-toned, washed in the hush that only early morning can offer. I don't open my eyes right away. I just lie there, tucked beneath Gryphon's sheets, his hoodie still clinging to me like the night hasn't ended yet.
His side of the bed is warm.
Empty, but warm.
Which means he hasn't been gone long.
I stretch, slow and reluctant, my body sore in the kind of way that has nothing to do with pain and everything to do with the way his hands knew how to ask without words. There's an ache between my ribs, not from hurt, but from softness. From safety.
It's terrifying.
I slide out of bed and pad barefoot into the living room, the wooden floors cool against my skin. The book
