DAX POV
The morning was quiet, the kind of peaceful that felt like it’d last forever as I drove us to campus. Maria’s hand was warm in mine, fingers laced perfectly together, and every now and then, she’d squeeze softly, grounding me. Henry was in the backseat, shuffling through his playlist, complaining every other second about my “ancient taste” in music.
She was bundled in my hoodie, looking so natural there in the passenger seat, like she’d always been there. It felt... surreal. Like somehow, we were becoming something more real, something more than just the quick-fire chemistry or shared moments that pulled us together.
“Come on, Dax, let’s at least start the day with something that doesn’t make us feel eighty,” he grumbled, landing on something with a heavy beat that vibrated thro
