Layla's POV.Dinner had gone better than I expected; really better.Not just good in a surface-level way, but genuinely good in the way that made me forget, if only for a little while, that there was a storm waiting somewhere beyond the edges of our moment. Liam had been present, completely present, in a way that felt rare these days, and I found myself relaxing into it more than I had intended to. I laughed wholeheartedly, spoke more freely, and for a few hours, it felt like we had stepped into a version of us that wasn’t constantly interrupted, or threatened.After a long while of total bliss, Liam settled the bills and we stepped out.Liam walked beside me, his hand brushing lightly against mine before he finally intertwined our fingers, I didn’t pull away. Instead, I let my hand rest in his, spreading warmth through me.“That was nice,” I said softly as we made our way toward the car.“Just nice?” he asked, glancing at me with a slight tilt of his head.I smiled faintly. “Very ni
Read more