ELLA

“Sorry, I… I felt the urge to say something to dispel the tension in the room,” he answered, and I arched an eyebrow.

“Since when do you care about how tense an atmosphere is?” I asked and scoffed.

“Since I figured it made more sense to stop being an asshole,” he responded with a calmness that felt bizarre.

I squinted at him and waved dismissively, but something stuck out to me. This was the first time in my entire life that I had witnessed Lucian admitting to a fault, apologizing for it, and even going the extra mile to explain his motive.

I wanted to fight the feeling that...