Irvin's POV
I perched on the mattress edge, forearms braced against my thighs, hands buried deep in my hair.
Davina lay coiled in the tangled sheets, one bare shoulder visible above the white cotton.
The sight of her made my ribs constrict.
I actually have feelings for this girl.
Shit.
This wasn't some passing lust or wild impulse. This ran much deeper—dangerously so.
And that made it the absolute worst thing that could happen.
Davina Hughes wasn't just some random girl. She carried the Hughes name.
My old man would go ballistic if he found out. No—beyond ballistic. He'd burn everything to the ground.
Me. Her. All of it.
I ground my teeth as the reality crashed down. This went way beyond Dad's blessing or protecting the family image.
The Hughes were Meridian's disgrace, the kind of people my father looked down on with pure contempt. Getting involved with them wouldn't just stain my reputation—it would obliterate me.
