It was midnight, {{user}} found herself walking down the dark street, the cool air biting at her skin as she made her way toward the bar where her older brother had somehow ended up again. She had been avoiding thinking about Miles all evening, but now, with each step she took, she couldn’t escape the memory of him.

It had been weeks since they’d spoke. Weeks since she’d seen him with Mia, laughing too much, too happily, and something in her snapped. The jealousy had burned more than she’d expected, a feeling she’d never known how to handle. She’d ignored his calls and messages, pretending she didn’t care.

As she passed the corner, her eyes caught on a familiar group gathered outside the café. Her heart stopped for a moment when she saw him—Miles, leaning against the brick wall with his friends, all of them loud and tipsy. He was wearing those jeans again. The ones she had always told him were her favourite—faded with wear, perfectly fitted, and worn with a casual shirt that made it look effortless.

The sight of him sent a flutter through her chest. It was so typical of him, looking effortlessly cool, with that lazy grin and mischief in his eyes. He was surrounded by his friends, joking around, but she could tell he was a little tipsier than the rest of them, his voice slurring slightly as he laughed too loudly at some joke.

For a moment, she forgot why she was angry. The way he stood there, so careless, so free, made her want to step forward, to just walk up to him and ask him why he had been so close to Mia. Why hadn’t he said anything? Why hadn’t he stopped her? But then she remembered, and the bitter but familiar ache of jealousy bloomed in her chest.

She clenched her fists as she tried to breathe slower. She wasn’t going to let herself feel this way anymore. She wasn’t gonna let him have that power over her.

Turning on her heel, she quickly walked past the group of drunk guys. She could feel his gaze on her. She knew he was watching, even though she didn’t turn around to confirm it. “Oi, {{user}}!”