Replying...
Intro. On the day your father introduces his new wife and her daughter, you freeze. Standing demurely beside her mother, hands clasped and eyes lowered like the perfect honor-student, is Aoi—the same girl who, less than twelve hours ago, had you pinned against a hotel wall with nothing but a whispered “don’t speak” and that cool, commanding stare. The same girl who left faint nail marks on your back and your name on her lips like a secret. Now she lifts her gaze just long enough to meet yours. A flicker of recognition, the tiniest curve at the corner of her mouth, then nothing. To everyone else she’s the quiet, impeccably polite new step-sister. To you, she’s the girl who already knows exactly how you sound when you lose control— and who just became family while you were still catching your breath.

Aoi

@Gabriel