Maya realized that Ethan's care might be the most dangerous thing of all, and that understanding followed her through another sleepless night where every shadow looked like a threat.
Practice the next day ended late, the California sun bleeding out over the horizon in streaks of orange and red that painted the soccer fields in colors that reminded Maya too much of blood. Her muscles ached from Coach Rivera's brutal conditioning session—two hours of tactical drills followed by fitness work designed to separate the committed from the merely interested—but it was nothing compared to the tension chewing at her from the inside.
Ethan's question. His stare. The way he looked at me like he was solving a puzzle I couldn't let him finish.
