It was hours before Kiera needed to be up, so I tried to be as quiet as possible as I made coffee. I should have known that wouldn’t matter though—Kiera strolled into the kitchen before the pot was even done brewing. She was wearing one of my T-shirts…and nothing else. Her long, lean legs were all too distracting for this early in the morning.

She walked over to me with a tired smile on her face. “Mornin’,” I said.

Wrapping her arms around my waist, she snuggled into my chest. “Good morning.” Proving just how sleepy she was, she yawned.

A small laugh escaped me as I rubbed her back. “You don’t have to wake up with me. You can sleep in until school starts.”

Placing her chin on my chest, she looked up at me. “If you’re up, I want to be up,” she said with a smile full of warmth. Then she scrunched her brows, like she was suddenly confused by something. “Why do you get up so early, when you’ve got nowhere to go?”

With a small sigh, I looked away from her. Right, my oddly accurate internal alarm clock. One that was permanently set for early A.M. “Well, let’s just say that my childhood trained me to wake up at the crack of dawn.” I had several memories of my dad “encouraging” me to get up. In fact, the last time I was treated to his help with waking, he’d bruised my thigh so badly, I’d had trouble walking. Which also got me in trouble.

Looking back at Kiera, I told her, “Waking up on my own was preferable to being woken up. I guess the habit stuck. Now I can’t seem to stop waking up early.”

Her hazel eyes glistened, and my mood darkened. I didn’t really want to talk about my parents again. Kiera seemed to understand that, and she forced herself to smile. “Well, I’m glad you do. Quiet mornings with you are some of the best memories that I have.”

Peace swept through me as I recalled some of our sweet, stolen moments, moments that had happened right here in this kitchen. It seemed a lifetime ago, and yet, at the same time, it seemed like only yesterday. “Me too,” I whispered, running my fingers back through her dark hair. “I always looked forward to you coming down to see me. Even if it was just for a little while, it still made me feel like we were…together.” Even if we weren’t, even if it was just an illusion. A painful, wonderful illusion.

Like she could sense the path my thoughts had taken, Kiera cupped my cheeks, forcing our eyes to lock. “We were, Kellan. We were together…even if it was just for a little while.”