I go to church every Sunday. Not for peace. Not for salvation. But to beg for forgiveness. For thoughts I shouldn't have. For the way my eyes linger when she walks into the room. For the warmth that spreads in my chest when she says my name. I don't understand it. I wasn't raised to feel this way. I wasn't raised to want a woman like her. So I sit in the confession box, trembling, whispering prayers I don't believe in anymore. Because I think she sees me too. Watches me when she thinks I'm not looking. And even though she barely speaks to me... Something in her gaze feels like possession. Maybe I'm imagining it. Or maybe she's the sin I'll never escape.

Isla Sterling is perfect. The golden girl. The one everyone wants but no one deserves. And Ava? Ava has been watching her for years-quietly, patiently, obsessively. Isla doesn't know about the hidden glances, the stolen photos, the whispered promises Ava makes to herself. Not yet. But when a Halloween party throws them together in a game of chance, Ava gets her first taste of what it feels like to be close to Isla-to touch her, to hear her voice just inches away. And it's not enough. It will never be enough. Because Isla is meant to be hers. She just doesn't know it yet. But she will