Elias was mid-sentence when he realized how great it felt to be talking to Kenzie again.
She was perched comfortably on the edge of the sofa, one leg tucked beneath her, eyes bright in that familiar way that always made him feel both seen and mildly interrogated. He'd missed this; her presence, her blunt warmth, the way she noticed things before he'd even admitted them to himself.
"So," he said lightly, leaning back, "how are you holding up?"
Kenzie snorted. "I am alive, moderately annoyed, but alive." Her gaze slid over him with deliberate slowness. "You, on the other hand, ran away dramatically and still ended up with the Cassian Moretti. I'd say fate has a twisted sense of humor."
Elias groaned. "I didn't run away dramatically."
"You absolutely did."
"I relocated strategically."
She raised an eyebrow. "And yet. Here you are."
He opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. After a beat, he sighed. "Cassian was… unrelenting."
