Chapter 120

Kelly POV

The house was quiet that night.

Adrian was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, scrolling through his phone with the kind of calm that made it look like nothing in the world could reach him there. The soft glow from the screen lit his face in fragments, highlighting how still he looked, how far away from everything else he seemed.

And yet I knew better.

For weeks, I had fought this.

Fought the pull toward him. Fought the way his presence stayed with me even when he wasn’t in the room. Fought the moments where I almost let myself believe it was safe to want him this much.

Even when he proved himself.

Even when he cut off people I didn’t think he would ever walk away from.

Even when he stood beside me without hesitation, time after time, like it cost him nothing and everything at once.

I still held back.

But tonight felt different.

Tonight, the resistance felt heavier than the feeling itself.