ZACH’S POV

For a moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and rubbed the back of my neck. Damn, that was intense. But then again, they’d been pushing me for years, trying to shape me into the perfect version of them. I didn’t need that anymore.

"Zach?" A soft voice called out behind me. Malia.

I turned around and there she was, walking toward me, her white dress flowing like a gentle breeze in the garden. Her eyes, full of concern, locked onto mine. She could read me like a book, even when I tried to hide what I was...