Isla POV
I woke up slowly, the way you do when your body’s already decided the day is starting whether your brain’s on board or not. No alarm, no sudden jolt, just this gentle pull toward consciousness, like someone had turned the volume up on the world a few notches.
My eyes fluttered open to soft gray light filtering through the half-closed blinds. The apartment smelled like the leftover takeout we’d forgotten on the counter last night and the faint trace of Zayne’s cologne still clinging to the sheets. I lay there for a second, letting my senses catch up, feeling the familiar dip of the mattress beside me.
Zayne was still asleep, face relaxed in a way that always caught me off guard. One arm was flung across my waist, heavy and warm, his fingers loosely curled against my hip like ev
