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Chapter 36: Touched Without Hands.

Author: Maraz_Pen
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-26 21:25:21

Riley’s POV

Soft jazz drifted through the room, smooth and slow. The kind of music that made everything feel more intimate, and a little too easy to say something you would regret later.

A half-empty bottle of red wine sat between Aria and me, catching the flicker of candlelight like blood in a glass. My robe had slipped off one shoulder, and my face mask was starting to crack, tugging slightly at the corner of my mouth every time I smiled. The cucumber slice on my eye had already slid halfway down my cheek.

Aria was sprawled across the other end of the couch, legs tangled in a throw blanket, a bowl of chocolate almonds in her lap.

“This,” she sighed dramatically, “is exactly the therapy I needed.”

“You say that every time,” I murmured, handing her the wine to top us off.

“Because it’s always true,” she grumbled, filling her glass like we were on a mission. “Between my toxic job, my mother’s daily texted prayers, and the guy I’ve been hooking up with discovering his emotional allergy
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