“I didn’t know you felt that way!” Lea says softly and sits beside me. Not touching but I could still feel her mere presence burning my skin. I try to resist the urge to lean towards her and simply breathe the scent of her skin.

“Can we please not talk about this? I don’t want to think about all this stuff.” I whisper, my voice ringing out in the small space of her bedroom. “Tell me something else. Tell me about the man I saw with you in your house.” My mood darkened further at the thought of that scene, of that man hitting her and her making me promise...