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surrender instead.
    Then she got her wish. He released her wrists. He ended the kiss, but his lips hovered so close to hers that she felt like they were still touching. Tunneling one arm under her shoulders, he lifted her closer, sealing her chest to his. He pumped into her, faster and faster.
    “Come with me.” It was an order, but it was a plea as well. This was something he’d always said to her, often coupling it with an affirmation of love.
    Mina sensed the sentiment was still there, buried under the weight of the heart she’d broken. The unspoken declaration wrapped around her core, liquid heat combining with the fire he stoked between her legs. His breathing grew ragged, and she knew he was close. So was she.
    She hung on to his shoulder with one hand and the back of his neck with her other, tangling her fingers in the soft hair at his nape. Taking the chance—because it was incredibly selfish to expect him to put himself out there first—she whispered the words. “I love you, Ever.”
    He cried out as she spoke, so she wasn’t sure he heard. They came together. He thrust one last time, and then he rolled to the side so he wouldn’t crush her.
    She looked over at him. The clouds moved away from the moon for a moment, and she saw that he’d fallen back asleep.
    She berated herself for thinking it would be that easy, and she didn’t stop the silent tears that leaked from her eyes.

Chapter Two
    6.5 years ago
    Most of her friends had found jobs or internships right away. Mina delayed the job-application process to return home. Her mother, Jin Ae, had been alone for four years. In the divorce, she’d been awarded the small bungalow-style home in which Mina had been raised. It was her duty to see to her mother’s health and well-being, and she couldn’t do that from California, Texas, or Virginia, the places where she’d been scoping out jobs developing new tech.
    Vermont didn’t offer much, so she aimed to persuade her mother to sell the house and move with her. It would take some time to do, but Mina was convinced it wasn’t an insurmountable task.
    Her plan was to begin slowly. She’d integrate herself back into her mother’s routine and then show her mother that they had nothing in Vermont worth staying for. Because her father had been strict and controlling, neither Mina nor her mother had been allowed to truly become part of the small-town community. They’d been welcome. The people had always been friendly, but the Sungs had held all nonfamily members at arm’s length.
    Mina wanted a new start in a new town where she and her mother could participate in community life. She was tired of watching from the periphery. Being away at college had taught her that there was more to life than staying at home and suffering in silence as her father beat his wife and bullied his daughter.
    Leaving that house was a necessary part of the healing process. The first weekend, Mina ran to town to do some shopping. She liked running these kinds of errands because it got her out of the house, and she really needed to get out. It was June, and her mother hated to venture farther than her immaculate garden.
    The stores in town hadn’t changed a bit. In the past, Mina and Jin Ae had rushed through their errands because the tyrant waiting in the car timed everything. If they took longer than he thought was necessary, then he became angry. When he became angry, things never turned out well.
    One of the first things her mother had done after separating from her father was to get a driver’s license. Now that she could run errands on her own, she avoided it at all costs.
    Breen’s small grocery store had fresh produce and hanging baskets that overflowed with pretty flowers. In the past, Mina would have hurried by, trying to avoid looking at what would be considered a frivolous purchase. But now she was finding that she couldn’t help but stop to look.
    A particularly pretty basket of red-and-white pansies caught her