Mia As I left the casino with Sasha and Emma, my mind was still swirling from the brief, almost-kiss with Albert. My breath felt a little short, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of how close we’d come to something more. The interruption had been sudden, jarring, and I wasn’t sure how to process it all. My emotions were a tangled mess of confusion and something else—something more unsettling that I couldn’t quite name. I wanted him. Despite everything that had happened, I still wanted him, wanted the future that I had just started to think was possible with him. Sasha and Emma were chatting as we made our way downstairs, but my thoughts were preoccupied with Albert. I could still feel the intensity of his gaze. It felt so unfair for it to happen when I had already made my decision. “

