To want someone like you was to want something devastating, Jing Yuan learned.

You weren't the type of person to stay. This had been established from the very start. It was the words you whisper into his mouth, a clock perpetually ticking at the back of his mind with every greedy kiss he stole from you. There was a time clause narrowing down on you, and he knew the aftermath was going to ruin him. But since it was you, he would endure it.

"Stay," he begged you again. "Just for the night."