(Zara)
Boston was cold in the way that felt clean, and Sebastian was different the moment we landed.
Not softer. Looser. Away from the building, away from the glass office and the floor full of people who watched us, some of the working stillness went out of his shoulders. In the car from the airport he sat closer than he did at home, his knee against mine, his hand finding mine on the seat between us like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I let it, because Mia's voice was in my ear telling me to stop reaching for the door.
So I didn't reach for the door. I held his hand in a cold city where nobody knew us, and I let myself just be there, present, watching instead of bracing.
"You're quiet," he said.
"I'm practicing something."
"Practicing what?"
"Being somewhere witho
