Nightshade

They say grief changes people.

Maybe that's why Maddy Perez barely recognizes herself anymore.

A year after losing the person she loved most, Maddy moves through Miami like a ghost. The city is still beautiful. The nights are still loud. The ocean still crashes against the shore like nothing happened.

But everything feels different.

Especially when Bishop starts showing up.

He's always there. At family cookouts. Late-night drives. Random moments she doesn't realize she'll remember forever.

Bishop was never supposed to become important.

He was supposed to be familiar. Safe. Temporary.

Instead, he becomes the one person who notices when she's pretending to be okay.

The one person who waits.

The one person who stays.

As friendship slowly turns into something neither of them expected, Maddy finds herself caught between who she used to be and who she's becoming. Between the pain she's holding onto and the future trying to find her.

But healing isn't linear.

And love doesn't always arrive like a lightning strike.

Sometimes it grows quietly.

Like flowers pushing through concrete.

Like a shadow following you home.

Like nightshade.

A slow-burn romance about grief, healing, second chances, and discovering that the person meant for you might have been beside you all along.