Chapter 72. WTF!!!

Ava

The first cock-crow ripped through the quiet like a knife, sharp, ragged, impossible to ignore.

A second one followed, then the low, throaty cluck of hens in the neighbor’s yard. Dawn. Pale gray light leaked through the curtains and painted the hallway in cold, unforgiving stripes.

My neck ached. My face was crusty with dried tears. I was still slumped against the door, knees to chest, hoodie bunched up under me like a sad little nest.

Then it hit me.

Adrian.

I scrambled upright so fast my head spun, fingers fumbling with the deadbolt. I yanked the door open, heart already in my throat.

He was there.

Curled on his side on the concrete porch, a coat pulled over him like a blanket, one arm pillowed under his head.

The drizzle had stopped sometime in the night, but everything was soaked, his hair plastered to his forehead, the shoulders of his coat dark with water, a small puddle under his hip.

His breath came out i