But I’m too tired. Too content. Too wrecked by the feeling of her here, real and warm against me.
“Don’t leave,” I murmur.
She doesn’t answer.
I fall asleep with her in my arms.
I wake to empty sheets and pale morning light.
The bed is cold where she was. There’s no note - nothing.
I lie there for a long moment, staring at the ceiling. Weak sun filters through the blinds. Her scent is still on my pillows.
Then I laugh softly.
She did it again.
I push myself up, running a hand through my hair, trying to feel annoyed about her just leaving. I can’t. Because the memory of last night is too vivid - the way she looked at me in the dim light of my apartment, the way she said my name, the way she felt pressed against me.
Nora.
That’s all I have. A first name and the memory of her smile right before she kissed me.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter.
LEONORA
I’m halfway across campus before my heart stops racing.
The air is cold, waking me up faster than coffee could. My legs are still slightly unsteady. My lips still feel swollen.
I pull my jacket tighter and keep walking, boots crunching against frost-covered grass.
That was reckless. Exactly the kind of thing I told myself I wouldn’t do.
But when I replay it - his hands, his mouth, the way he looked at me like I was the only person in the world - I can’t make myself regret it.
He still doesn’t know who I am. I told him Nora. Not even my full name. Just the second half of it - Nora. A half-truth.
I reach our dorm section and slip inside before anyone can see me. The hallway is quiet this early, just the distant sound of a shower running somewhere and the soft hum of the vending machine on the first floor.
I make it to my room, close the door, and immediately press my back against it like someone might have followed me.
The room is dark. Katie’s door is still closed. Willow’s too.
I cross to my bed, collapsing onto it face-first.
The pillow swallows my groan.
What did I do?
Twenty minutes later I’m still lying there, fully dressed, staring at the ceiling, when my phone buzzes.
Willow: YOU WERE GONE ALL NIGHT
Willow: WE HAVE QUESTIONS
Willow: SO MANY QUESTIONS
