This isn't some stranger.
This is Kai.
My fake boyfriend.
The bodyguard who punched a councilman for touching me.
The man who shows up with coffee.
The man who keeps looking at me like I'm something special.
The man I've somehow fallen for.
Oh God.
What if he hasn't?
What if he doesn’t feel the same?
My stomach twists.
What if tonight was just tonight?
What if tomorrow everything changes?
What if he wakes up and realizes I'm not who he really wants?
The doubts come fast.
Cruel.
Familiar.
The same ones I've spent years trying to ignore.
Too much.
Too curvy.
Too boring.
Too ordinary.
Not enough.
Never enough.
My throat tightens.
I hate that my brain does this.
I hate that even now, after everything, a part of me still expects disappointment.
Not because of Kai.
Because of experience.
Because that's what happens when you've spent years being overlooked.