Chapter 94

Alex’s POV

Her hands found mine across the table, and she trembled as if the touch itself was transgressive.

“Why would you risk that?” she whispered.

“What, risk my sister finding out or risk my reputation?” I thought of Ava’s laugh, of the way she had been surprised by love and then honest about it tonight.

I thought of the way she would have stood in my peripheral vision all week like an axis I could not ignore.

“Because I’d rather risk that than risk waking up and realizing I’d lived the rest of my life in the shade, apologizing for the sunlight I left behind.”

She squeezed my hand.

It was an absurd, perfect gesture, it was a small and meaningful. “You’re dramatic,” she breathed.

“And you’re cautious,” I countered. “It’s a good balance.”

She smiled, the first real smile since the night. It made something inside me loosen, like a knot that had been too tight for too long.

We talked then, less about confessions and