TESSA
I sat on the couch, staring at the door Jaxson had just walked out of. It had been minutes, maybe longer—but my body still hadn’t moved. The silence in the apartment felt heavy, the kind that presses down on you until you can’t think straight. The last few seconds replayed in my head over and over. His voice. The look in his eyes. The way his tone snapped when he spoke to me.
Jaxson had never raised his voice at me before.
I rubbed my hands together, trying to shake off the feeling that something was off. He wasn't just angry, he looked… lost. Like his head was somewhere else entirely. His knuckles were bruised too, and I couldn’t get that image out of my mind. The blood. The tension in his jaw. The way he left without arguing, that wasn't the Jaxson I knew. Jaxson would have sta
