ERICA The bedside lamp had a neutral warmth to it, the kind hotels calibrate to flatter everyone and belong to no one. I sat on the edge of the king bed with a glass of wine I'd barely touched, listening to the shower running behind the bathroom door. The first thing I noticed was the quiet. The room wasn't silent. It hummed with the low mechanical breath of climate control, the distant murmur of a city nine floors below....

The screen's blue glow was the only light in the room. Three forty-two AM, and Erica sat cross-legged against the headboard with her laptop balanced on her thighs, scrolling through a forum thread she'd read four times already. New Relationship Energy. Happens to almost everyone in ENM dynamics. Brain chemistry mimicking early love — dopamine cascade, norepinephrine sharpening focus, serotonin dropping to OCD levels. Temp...

Rain drummed steadily against the bedroom window, February's cold pressing down on the city. Erica stood barefoot on hardwood, holding a glass of red wine she hadn't yet tasted, watching rivulets streak the glass. Behind her, John sat on the edge of their bed, shirt unbuttoned, waiting. "I've been thinking," she said without turning. Her voice was quiet but clear over the rain. "About going further." She heard the sheets...