Michelle Lui's POV
The air had that late-afternoon softness — warm, gentle, turning gold at the edges. It was the kind of glow that made everything look a little dreamlike, like the universe had slipped a diffuser over the sun. People strolled past the café in easy, unhurried waves. A couple walked their corgi down toward the docks. A group of teens shared fries on a bench. A mother pushed a stroller across the path, humming faintly under her breath.
Life moved around us in soft motion.
Steven and I stepped out onto the boardwalk again.
And immediately—
A breeze swept through.
Light, but enough to send my hair into complete, uncontrolled chaos. Strands whipped across my face, sticking to my lip gloss, tangling at my cheek, slapping me with the gentle force of nature's disrespect.
I tried to tame it.
Failed.
Tried again.
Failed harder.
