The morning sun slipped through the tall curtains, casting a warm into Raina’s room.

She stirred awake slowly, her mind still wrapped around the memory of last night… the kiss. Aaron’s kiss.

The warmth of it still lingered on her lips, so vivid, so alive, as though it had happened just a breath ago.

She lay there for a long moment, staring at the ceiling, her heart betraying her with how it fluttered at the memory. It felt so perfect. So right. And for the first time in a long time, the war inside her chest had gone quiet.

But she couldn’t let herself drown in the emotions of it,...