Okay. I lied.
Yesterday I said The Desert Yes was the penultimate chapter of Afterglow. But technically, this isn’t a chapter. It’s an interlude. Which means I didn’t lie—I just… took creative liberties. Like Coco with boundaries.
Before the final chapter, there had to be this.
The Stillness After isn’t about sex. It’s about what happens when the adrenaline wears off. When the storms stop. When you wake up at 4 a.m. with your shoes on and your body halfway out the door.
It’s the quietest installment in the series—and maybe the most intimate. No stage lights. No firelight. Just a kitchen. A mug of tea. A woman learning how to stay. A man choosing to hold still.
This is the inhale before the ending.
Eric