“Hey.”
“You… you’re back,” I breathed, my voice catching somewhere between disbelief and the weight of memories crashing back.
Her smile tugged at the corner of her lips, cautious but warm, like she wasn’t sure she had the right to smile like that in front of me.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes searching mine. “Yeah. I am.” There was a pause from her. Then, almost too casually, she added, “Want to go on a walk?”
My first instinct was to refuse. Every fiber of my body wanted to stay glued to the safety of the court, to the sound of the ball echoing in my head, to the memory of Skylar’s laughter still clinging to the air. But then I looked at Jasmine—the familiar slope of her nose, the quiet determination in her eyes—and I heard myself mutter, “I… I guess.”
Her smile widened, just a
