Friends with Benefits
Atasha
The steel wire around my ribcage finally snapped into dust.
Hearing her scream my name, watching the perfect, rigid senior architect stand in front of me completely drenched, shivering, and losing her absolute mind in public was the most beautiful, devastating demolition I had ever witnessed. There were no corporate blast shields left. There was no clinical doublespeak.
It was just Khalia. Raw. Unprotected. Real.
"You really are a complete idiot, Khalia Salvador," I whispered, a broken, joyful laugh escaping my throat as my tears finally spilled over my lashes, mixing with the rain on my face.