Sloane appears in the kitchen doorway and stops dead when she sees me.
For one heartbeat, her face isn’t armor. It’s startled. Raw.
Then it shutters.
“What are you doing?” she whispers, like I’m the problem that followed her home.
I keep my voice even because if I don’t, I’ll say something that can’t be taken back. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“Liar,” she says immediately.
I give her a small, humorless shrug. “Okay.”
She blinks, thrown off by the lack of a fight. Then she steps into the kitchen anyway, moving like she has somewhere else to be—like if she keeps moving, she won’t feel.
She opens the fridge, stares into it like there’s an answer on the top shelf, then closes it without taking anything. Her hands don’t know what to do, so they fold into her sleeves.
Her gaze slices back to me. “Were you waiting for me?”
I hate how quickly my chest tightens at the question.
I hate that it feels like a confession just to be standing here.
“I was making sure you got home,” I say.
Sloane’s laugh is sharp and ugly. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t use my dad as your excuse,” she bites, stepping closer. “Don’t act like this is about Pops.”
Heat flares in my chest. “It is.”
“It’s not,” she snaps, eyes bright like lit matches. “Because if it’s about Pops, you don’t have to admit you’re being weird.”
“I’m not being weird.”
Sloane tilts her head, cruel and pretty. “Right. Because you always stand in a backyard staring at me like you’re about to bite someone.”
My jaw tightens. “I wasn’t going to?—”
“You were,” she cuts in. “I saw you. You looked like you were one second away from dragging Ethan into the street.”
My mouth opens before my brain can stop it. “Did he kiss you?”
The question hits the air like a slap.
Sloane freezes.
Her eyes sharpen. “Excuse you?”
I push through the shame because it’s too late now. “Did he kiss you?”
“How is that any of your business?” she hisses.
“It’s not,” I say, and my voice comes out rougher than I want. “Just—answer it.”
“No.” Sloane’s chin lifts. “He didn’t kiss me, not that it’s any of your fucking business.”
