Chapter 31

• Something peculiar had taken hold of my face. It was as though the nerves in my mimic muscles had been electrified, locking the corners of my lips into a constant smile. It wasn’t painful just oddly foreign. And yet, every time Gosto’s eyes found mine, that smile stretched wider, more eagerly, as if it had a will of its own. I must’ve looked ridiculous. But I didn’t care. The way he made me feel eclipsed every shred of awkwardness.
• We didn’t cross any indecent lines. Gosto simply held my hand, ran his fingers through my hair, and kept one arm around me at all times, as though he needed to anchor himself with the certainty of my nearness. I welcomed it without resistance, floating in the warmth of something I didn’t fully recognize. If this wasn’t happiness, it had to be its closest cousin.
• But like most fragile, beautiful things, the morning was too short-lived.