Alyssa

My skin prickles the second I wake up.

They're gone. I know it without even opening my eyes.

The house is too quiet—the kind of quiet that doesn't settle so much as it waits. The sheets beside me are cold, like they've been empty for hours.

Like King waited for me to fall asleep... and then slipped out the second I did.

I'm not surprised.

I knew we only had a few hours. But still. No matter how much time I spent holding them, kissing them, ...