~Aria's POV
I returned to my room, closing the door behind me with a quiet click that sounded too loud in the empty house. The rain had stopped, leaving the air damp and heavy, and the scent of wet earth drifting in from the windows. I kicked off my wet shoes and let my coat fall to the floor, my fingers trembling slightly, though I did not know why.
Sleep had abandoned me.
I lay on the edge of the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the faint hum of the morning in my bones. The sunlight outside had begun to pale the dark corners of the room, but it was soft, uncertain, unwilling to make a full commitment today.
All I could think about was him.
Ethan.
The way he had crouched by the car, focused and quiet, the rain plastering his hair against his forehead. The way his hands moved with certainty, the way his jaw tensed as he worked, like he carried the weight of the world and yet did not falter.
And then the cookies.
Would he like them?
