I came home from college expecting to deal with my emotionally unavailable father, an empty fridge, and a summer full of boredom.

What I didn’t expect was to walk into the kitchen and find a barefoot, stunning woman in my dad’s shirt stirring eggs like she owned the place.

Spoiler: She does.

Her name is Elena, and apparently, she’s my brand-new stepmother—seven years older than me, way too cheerful, and totally off-limits.

But try telling that to my brain when she’s bending over to grab orange juice or accidentally falling on top of me in the laundry room. Try telling that to my heart when she’s laughing at my jokes, defending me at dinner, or wearing my hoodie because “it smells like comfort.”

My dad doesn’t see her. Not really.
But I do.
And that’s the problem.

Now I’m stuck in a house full of tension, sarcasm, and slow-burn chaos.
She’s married to my father.
I’m supposed to be focusing on my future.
But somehow, I’m falling for the one woman I absolutely, definitely, 100% should not be falling for.

Oops.

Day 2 — 6:45 PM — Room 211, Sunrise Motor Inn


Not warm beige. Not the kind of beige that says, "relax and stay awhile."


Institutional beige. The kind that says: you're not home, and you never will be again.


There's a rust-colored stain on the curtain. The mini-fridge hums like it has something to prove. The air smells like lemon cleaner and cigarette ghosts.


And I've never felt more like I belong somewhere.


Because everything inside me feels just as grimy.


There's a difference between walking away and being thrown out.


When I left Aaron's father, it wasn't a choice. He told me to go. He didn't shout. He didn't slam anything. He just… stopped looking at me like I was real.


I packed my things like a ghost. Milo stood in the hallway and didn't say a word.


And when I closed that door behind me, I told myself I'd earned this exile.


Chapter 29 - Chapter 29: The Motel Mirror Tells the Truth