Kari woke up earlier than Evan again. They had fallen asleep together in his room after dinner. He had seemed especially wrung out after emotionally unloading on her while cooking, but Kari was grateful for everything that he had shared.
She had completely misjudged him. He had been through far more than she realized, and what struck her most wasn’t just the ugliness of his past but how much it haunted him. Evan wasn’t brushing it off or excusing himself. He was ashamed, terrified of becoming that same reckless boy who had once thought he could take whatever he wanted.
For so long, she had only seen his confidence, his sharp edges, and the way he could command a room. She assumed he never questioned himself. But the cracks he let her glimpse told a different story. Beneath the swagger, h
