ve. One moment to

y a misting rain that kissed the glass like fingertips each drople

aintest hint of jasmine from someone's forgotten garden. Trees lined both sides, their branches swaying like drowsy sentinels in

dashboard, but from the kind of warmth made from breath and shared skin, from t

ted. His thumb traced idle circles there, a habit he'd had since their first date, when he'd been too nervous to hold he

. Time had a way of bending around them, stretching like taf

low and teasing. "You know, I do

ight, the one he'd picked "You didn't have dessert," she murmured, eyes half lidded as her fingers toyed w

low, rough at the edges in the way that always made her

o you could look at my leg

during a first kiss. A drop traced down the fogged window beside her like a falling star. She us

e'd teased her for wearing because he knew they were his favorite. Heat spiraled beneath her skin. She gasped whe

osing her. Like even if the world burned down

s place?" he whisper

her chest ache with how much she loved him. "First time I kissed you.

fed in the back of her closet, frayed at the edges, still smelling faintly

ke strawberry lip

all at her back, the way his hands had trembled when he'd finally cupped her face,

re. Sti

igher, his palm branding her skin. Her breath hitched, eyes fluttering as pleasure bloomed in waves from where he touched her. His thumb

dn't

oment no one could take it from them. Every touch wa

red of this," he m

er mouth, and kissed him like she believed it

m and never let go. The rest of the world didn't exist. It was only them breath, skin, the whisper of her name against

silence.

t the cotton of his shirt, the steady thud of his pulse be

peace," she

as if he could press the words direct

er, they were b

and afterglow. Her head leaned ge

th that crooked smile she'd fallen for in their final year of college. The

for it in bed

I do,

th foot

at's my

m. And in that moment, just before

h

dli

cl

fa

ide of

traight

ya

en times before. The wheel jerked left. Tires shrieked. The sound was animal, raw, the kin

dark shot through the fog like a bullet. It struck them hard on the rear passenger si

ia scr

l. Snapped it. Metal

sel of terror. Branches whipped the windshield. Le

h

pa

ick oak. The sound was a gunshot. A

and endless. The seatbelt locked and carved into her chest. A knife of fire between her ribs. Airbags detonate

Gasolin

ide her skull, like the universe itself was sc

." she

ans

strings cut. His arm was pinned. The wheel

me out hoarse and broken. Like

ching across the center console, her nails scraping against the leather, h

o

, furious. Her chest heaved. Each bre

se, R

s and spread outward, the kind no amount of blankets could fix. And the fea

d

ac