Ronnie’s POVThe warm water slid down my shoulders like liquid silk, slow and comforting. It pooled at the small of my back, tracing the curve of my spine before dripping toward the floor, tiny rivers against the smooth porcelain of the tub. I closed my eyes, tilting my head slightly as the steam curled around me, thick and heavy. It wrapped me like a soft blanket, hiding me from the rest of the world, shielding me from everything that had been chasing me lately. Outside the glass door, the world might as well not have existed. The outside, the noise, the stress, the obligations—everything that felt pressing, urgent, and unavoidable was muted, dissolved by the gentle hiss of the water and the scent of warm soap lingering in the air.I stayed there longer than I should have. I could hear the clock somewhere in the apartment ticking, a soft, relentless reminder that minutes were slipping by. But the warmth made me forget. It loosened the tension in my muscles, melted the tightness in my
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