she stopped being someone else's da

ing at herself under warm lights that made her look like a stranger. Her lips were

Nav

im-rough around the edges, nameless in her world of polished shoes and private chauffeurs. He

exactly w

d spot she discovered at sixteen. Her heels clicked along crac

cigarette between his lips, the soft sound

as if he'd fe

said, exhaling a s

't give m

e ground. "I just figured you'd

the corner of her mouth c

wait here?

for

and the smudge on his cheek. His T-shirt was worn, clinging to the muscles beneath

orking on tonig

an's silhouette curled in the middle of a storm. Bold, mess

iful," Arian

Like someone who's halfway o

th caught. "I

er. "Do you wa

ence st

a dog barked. But here-in this narrow spa

what it's like to feel like you're wearing someone else's life

was low. "Eve

uching, just close enough t

daughter. The good girl. The one who's always smiling for

then leaned down to murmu

ere raw. Simple. Real. And they

him. "Being with yo

" he agreed. "

stubble that shadowed it. "Then be honest wi

"It's not a mistake," he said. "It's the

ing they couldn't. Her hands slid up into his hair, and his arms wrapped around her waist like he

's cold, polished rage. She thought only of this: the taste of rebel

d apart, the moment str

ushing a curl behind her ear. "Before

ing to say a thousand thin

back," she

ered on her a

oo

echoing behind her like a heartbea

eady reaching for his paints-because now he had