Chapter 61. The Proposal

The gym was closed, but the lights were still on. Cassian stood just inside the doorway, coat still on, the smell of cold air trailing in behind him. The new mats gleamed faintly under the fluorescents. Someone had left the stereo on low—an old jazz instrumental looping quietly. He looked around. Everything felt familiar and yet not. The beams had been repainted; the walls bore new slogans. The place that had once felt like a cage now felt lived in, human.

He walked to the center of the mat, paused for a moment, and listened. His heartbeat was loud enough to pass for noise.

Then he heard it—footsteps on the office stairs.

Lia appeared, barefoot, hoodie sleeves pushed to her elbows, hair tied loose. She paused at the edge of the mat, surprise flickering into a smile.

“Were you planning to haunt the place?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he said. “It remembered me.”

She crossed her arms. “So did I.”

The words hung there—gentle, unguarded.

Cassian s