hts. Sharp night air clashed with the skin sober against the raging warmth from alcohol runni

hand out to steady her elbow lightly. "Ca

street lamps, Adrian Grayson was impossible to compose, his sharp features unreadable. There wa

voice had somehow picked u

ing with a slight smirk. "Let me walk y

his grasp. "I don't need anyone's help. I have

nd skin. Adrian studied her further, his curiosity deepening. There was mor

r. "But humor me. At least tell me why someone

f his voice; her eyes sl

perceptive eyes. "You seem... complicated. Not th

could catch it. "Complicated," she

retched, heavy and charged, until Sophia looked awa

here tonight?" she asked, her voi

nsing the weight of

nreckless and unwary. Sharing isn't her thing, but tonight, something about this stranger provokes h

er chest not once faltering in her voice. "They were everything to me. The kind of pe

cry. Adrian watched her with an unflinching gaze, his jaw clen

the tone cold now. "Hit-and-run. The driver never stop

ck. His mind raced, fragments of a memory he had long buried threatening

y," he sa

them back." She turned to him then, her eyes flashing like kniv

eb. She didn't want to discuss Caleb and the spiral he'd given in

, "You don't need t

u don't seem like the type to spill your guts with just

y his perceptiveness. "Why do you c

r vulnerability shone through her tough exterior, or the way her story

ing away from things that matter," he

ust a smidge. "Well, you're wasting your time with

e from hers. "Everyone's got baggage, Sophia. The q

e, making her feel that strange and utte

, nerves tingling through the tips of her fingers.

r face. "Perhaps not. Still do

e. So open, so vulnerable-she hadn't let herself be in years.

most non-existent now that he had grown to accept they hadn't really happened. The hit-and-run accident. T

ve been the same a

the present. "You shouldn't be alone tonight," h

face in surprise at his ce

loser, his eyes now burning with that intense g

better than this,"

, everything around them just faded. The air surrounding them vibra

w it, before her mind co

their faces moved closer. Tension snapped between them like a bo

oment, there was not

d its way across his brain: truth. "I have