Seph startled slightly — just a tiny flinch of her shoulders — like she’d forgotten there was a world outside this conversation. Outside this room. Outside the mess in her chest and the mess in mine.
Her gaze dropped to her hands.
The sleeves of her sweatshirt were pulled down over her fingers again, twisting, hiding, protecting.
I exhaled slowly, trying to push down the frustration curling hot under my ribs.
“Dev’ll be happy to see you,” I said, softer than before.
“You think? I’ve never noticed Dev being happy about anything. Now Ash—”
“You’ve certainly won his affections.” I laughed despite myself.
She rolled her eyes. “Did Dev tell you Ash left me a raw chicken?”
I choked. “A what?”
“A whole one. Just… sitting by my door like some kind of offering to the gods of salmonella.”
“Well, that’s—”
“Sweet?” she supplied.
She actually smiled — small, warm, almost shy — as she thought about him.
“Heissweet. Probably the kindest, most honest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
It wasn’t a dig.
It wasn’t meant to hurt.
But gods, it still landed like one — a quiet little sting right under my ribs.
Because she didn’t look atmelike that.
Hadn’t in a long time.
I cleared my throat, trying to swallow the sudden tightness at the back of it.
“Yeah,” I said lightly, though it scraped coming out. “Ash is… something.”
Her smile lingered a moment longer before fading into uncertainty, her hands twisting in her sleeves again.
And just like that, I hated myself for minding at all.
She was hurting.
And I was sitting here jealous of a raw chicken.
Dev stepped out of his room wearing a soft white shirt and black slacks, his hair neatly combed like he’d been awake for hours already. When he saw Seph, something in him eased — his posture, his jaw, even the tension he wore like armour.
“Hey,” he said, voice oddly gentle. “You ready?”
Seph stood immediately, shoulders straightening as if she’d been waiting for the question.
“Yup. Whenever you are.”
“Good.” Dev glanced at me — brief, sharp — and for a flicker of a second his eyes darkened. He was still pissed. Still holding yesterday like a blade pointed at my ribs.
