The scent that clung to his shirt—not expensive cologne but something cleaner. Soap and coffee and the faint trace of exhaustion that followed him everywhere. She breathed it in, let it replace the phantom cedar that haunted her dreams.
"You okay back there?" Sabrina's voice drifted from the front. Quiet. Not mocking.
Vivienne didn't answer. Couldn't. Her throat had closed completely.
"Vivi's asleep," Cassidy said. Her voice was flat. Empty of the anger from before. "Leave her alone."
The car continued through the night. Trees passed in shadows and moonlight. Streetlights strobed orange light across the interior, painting everything in brief moments of gold before returning to darkness. Vivienne kept her eyes closed. Pretended she was still dreaming.
Maybe if she didn't move, this moment would last.
Maybe if she stayed very still, morning wouldn't come and destroy whatever fragile thing existed between her and the boy currently serving as her pillow.
