Chapter 71

• I wanted to go to Sophie’s house today.
• Just something simple. Familiar. A couch I’d cried on before, a blanket that still smelled like lavender, and my best friend’s voice unfiltered by screens. But Nathaniel shut that idea down the second I brought it up.
• “Please,” he said softly, brushing his thumb across my knuckles, “just stay home today. Your name is all over the news. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened.”