Chapter 68. No Excuses. No Explanations.

Layla’s POV

The warm water glided under my skin as I floated on my back and stared up into the darkening sky.

Somewhere, in the swimming, I felt a ghostly kind of relief, as if it were some unguent I hadn’t known I needed. Just me and the water, no expectations of any kind; nothing rousing ghosts in my mind of that which I had lost.

I inhaled deeply and sank a little under, holding my breath for a few seconds before springing back up for air. As I brushed off the water, I noticed someone standing at the edge of the pool.

Orion.

My stomach twisted into knots, and as much as I did not believe in his innocence, I relaxed the tension. I had not seen him in months; I had not planned to see him here. Turning my back and pretending not to have seen him was my instinctual reaction; too late, though. He had seen me.

He stood for a heartbeat, surveying me. His gaze settled, loitering uncomfortably upon an expressionless face, yet there was something