Ariana's POV.
The sound was rhythmic. Heavy. Violent. Like a storm punching through silence.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It rattled the thin walls and made my chest tighten. I knew that sound—it was the punching bag in the gym corner of the apartment. And I knew who was hitting it like it owed him blood.
Roman.
I curled deeper under the sheets, but sleep had long abandoned me. I’d barely gotten any rest the night before. My body was restless. My thoughts, worse. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his smirk. Felt the heat of his breath against my ear when he cornered me in the hallway.
“So am I,” he’d said when I told him I was just hungry. The way he looked at me… it wasn’t fair. It made my knees weak. My resolve even weaker.
I shouldn’t have come out that night. I shouldn’t have looked for m
