I didn’t plan on spending the entire afternoon tangled up in Ray’s presence, but that’s exactly what ended up happening.
Not physically tangled—God, no, that would’ve required a level of confidence I hadn’t unlocked yet—but emotionally, moment-to-moment, I was wrapped in him. In his attention. In the way he looked at me like I was somehow both familiar and new at once. In the way he listened when I spoke, quiet and intent, as if every word I said mattered more than it should.
We ended up in one of the side rooms connected to the library, a sitting room with two velvet chairs and tall windows that spilled afternoon light everywhere. Dust motes floated lazily in the golden haze. It felt like a painting—soft, warm, unreal.
Ray sat across from me at first, elbows on the arms of his chair, f
