Rain Chen's Point of View
Of all the things I expected from Advanced Criminal Procedure, casual physical contact was not one of them.
Let alone this.
Let alone her.
Sky had come in late—again—whispering a ridiculous excuse about a pastry emergency to Ren as she slid between us. Ren had rolled his eyes. I'd pretended not to notice. Pretended not to care.
As always.
For the first thirty minutes of the lecture, she was fidgeting. Tugging the sleeves of her oversized cardigan. Twirling the tip of her pen. Passing dumb doodles on post-its to Ren. Whispering questions she already knew the answers to.
Then silence.
I glanced to the side.
She had fallen asleep.
On me.
At first, it was just her head—resting lightly on my shoulder like it had every right to be there.
But then, slowly… somehow… her body slumped closer, lips parting slightly as her cheek slid against my collarbone—until her lips brushed my neck.
I froze.
Breath locked. Muscles tensed. World narrowed.
She didn't even stir.
Her jet-black hair spilled all over my chest, thick and soft and scented like vanilla and sugar. One hand clutched my arm, nails painted with tiny stars. The other… the other had fallen to my thigh.
It was innocent.
Clumsy.
Completely Sky.
And utterly devastating.
I couldn't move.
I should have moved. Nudged her off. Cleared my throat. Shoved a book between us. Done something.
But I didn't.
Because her body was warm against mine.
Because the feel of her breath on my skin was… maddening.
Because for a few stolen moments, I could pretend I was just a boy in a lecture hall with a girl who trusted me enough to fall asleep on my shoulder.
Not the Ghost Emperor.
Not the Ice Prince.
Just Rain.
I closed my eyes.
Listened to her soft breathing. Let her fingers twitch against my leg. Let her hair blanket my ribs. Let the chaos of her fill the silence that lived in me.
And then, very quietly, very stupidly—
I hoped the lecture would never end.