MELISSA’S POV

I sat cross-legged on my bed, the glow of my screen casting a bluish hue on my face. The chaos online had simmered down, and if I were being honest, it had very little to do with me. It was Xavier. His words. His post. The way he shielded me like I was something worth protecting.

And I still couldn’t wrap my head around it.

It didn’t make sense—not completely. Not after the way he acted at the dinner. The distance. The quiet tension radiating from him. The way he avoided ...