Se connecterEllie’s POVI was running before I even realized I’d started moving.The crowd around the gazebo was already gathering, people shouting and pointing. I shoved past them, my heart pounding so hard I could barely hear anything else over the sound of my blood rushing through my ears.“Move,” I said, pu
I stopped in the doorway and gawked. The bathroom was spick and span. It actually smelled like cleaning solution and not… all of the other horrible things in public bathrooms.“How’s it going?” I asked, my voice echoing in the space.“Good,” he called back. He stepped out of the stall, wearing elbow
Ellie’s POVBefore Dominic could reach me, I ducked my head, pretending I hadn’t noticed him, and grabbed a stack of paperwork on the table. I turned and slipped into the crowd. Or at least, I tried to. But I only made it a few steps away before his hand came around my upper arm, pulling me back.“H
Ellie’s POVI was already sitting at the kitchen table with my coffee when they came back inside.Dominic entered first, holding the door open. Vivian followed, leaning heavily on his arm. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I watched him help her over to a seat like she couldn’t do it herself.“
I took a seat, perching a little nervously on my knees. With the door shut behind us, the living room felt more intimate than it ever had before; we usually only used it for more formal meetings or guests. But now, it felt like it was being used for what it was supposed to be used for, and it was we
Ellie’s POV“Yes,” Amy said. “A sleepover. One night this week. I think it could be really beneficial for you both.”I looked at Dominic. He was staring at Amy like she’d just suggested we run naked through the pack grounds. It certainly felt that way.“That’s… Unconventional,” I muttered.Amy smile
My heart hammers.“I just wanted you free,” I say, softer than I mean to.Her eyes narrow. “You wanted you free. You wanted to prove your parents don’t control you.”“That’s not true.”“Then what is?”I shouldn’t look at her mouth. I do anyway.“The truth,” I say low, “is you don’t make sense.”Her
Dominic POV The applause hasn’t even finished rippling through the room when my parents say Ellie’s name.I stand there on the edge of the stage, jaw tight, shoulders squared, every instinct in me bristling.I didn’t know what to feel.Relief it wasn’t some princess I didn’t know?Shock that my par
Ellie POV Dominic doesn’t say a word.He just takes my hand and turns, already moving, guiding me through the crowd like this is inevitable and not wildly out of no where.“Dominic?!” I half whisper, half yell, as the dance floor opens beneath our feet. “Dominic! Let go! What are you doing?”“We’re
Vivian POV I am not nervous.Nervousness is for girls who don’t plan.I smooth my gloves as I stand at the edge of the ballroom, breathing in candle smoke and polished marble, letting the music settle into my bones. Every detail tonight has been chosen with intention, every curl pinned just so, and







