“You always show up when I’m trying to forget you.”

The patio air is cold but not cold enough. Not for how hot my skin feels. Everything inside me is tight and sharp and aching like I could scream or cry or run or maybe all three at once.

But I just sit.

I wrap my arms around myself and tug Leo’s thin cardigan tighter. My body feels off. My chest feels too full and my belly feels too tight and I’m breathing but nothing feels like it’s enough. It’s the hormones and the weight and the silence.

It’s him.

Because he walks in like this house belongs to him....