XAVIER’S POV

It had been three long, agonizing days since my fallout with Melissa. Three days of silence and distance. Three days of replaying the night over and over until it drove me half insane.

The apartment felt like a prison, the walls pressing in tighter with each hour that passed. I had tried keeping myself busy, tried to push her out of my mind, but the more I resisted, the stronger her presence became. Melissa was in everything—the ghost of her laughter in the quiet, the ...