Like a firework, a person’s life flashed brightest right before expiration.

Well then, those folks are judgmental assholes,” Liv spat. “You’re more than a fucking label, Z. You’re an amazing chef, a mediocre bassist, and you’ve got this dorky way of scratching the back of your head whenever you talk about anything personal, which isn’t often, but holy hell is it cute. I know you way better than any of those folks casting stones do, and I adore everything you are, Zane Parata.

The peach siding created a gorgeous contrast to the stucco walls and the dark-brown roof tiles—a fairytale house in a fairytale suburban neighborhood. She rolled her eyes. Too bad life had been anything but.

He stroked her back and kept a fierce grip on her like she’d fade away into one of the thousands of ghosts in this cemetery.

Ice upon ice, and yet, inside, she melted and mourned all the same.

The sharp light of the stars and moon sliced away her misconceptions and pared down their layers until the feelings that had always existed between them lay bare.