Day fourteen arrived with a tentative calm that felt borrowed. The rain had eased into a fine mist, turning Willow Creek’s streets into shiny ribbons under the gray sky. Amina’s latest text from the night before still sat on Elias’s phone like a fragile lifeline: “I’m thinking about stopping by tomorrow. Not for long. Just… need to see the house.” No emoji. No warmth. But it was something.
I woke to Elias’s body curled tightly around mine, his chest pressed to my back, one arm locked possessively across my waist while the other hand rested between my thighs. His fingers were already moving in slow, lazy circles, spreading the slick remnants of last night. His morning hardness nudged insistently against me.
“Morning, baby,” he murmured, voice rough and low. He lifted my leg slightly and p
