Nicholas’s POV
I stared at her like she’d grown a second head.
Something was off.
“Hazel…” My voice came out rough from sleep and disbelief. “What’s going on?”
She just smiled brighter—eyes sparkling with something dangerous and delighted all at once. Then she stood up slowly, pulling the sheet with her so it draped around her like a gown. The movement was graceful, deliberate, without knowing exactly how every inch of exposed skin affected me.
“Nothing at all,” she said sweetly. Too sweetly. “I just have a very big surprise for you.”
My heart kicked hard against my ribs.
“What surprise?”
“You’ll see.”
Before I could push for more answers, a furious knock rattled the door—three sharp, angry bangs that made the wood shudder.
Hazel tilted her head toward the sound like she’d been e
