RYKER

I didn't know how much I missed her presence. How much time had passed that I almost felt numb without seeing her— until now.

She stood under the moonlight, and the canopy of the long trees stretched their leaves above her head like an umbrella.

The sound of my boot against the fallen leaves made her turn.

Those eyes.

My breath hitched.

They are literally the only thing I could think of.

The way her gaze held my form as I stood before her.

She wasn't smiling.

Neither was ...