The Cuddle Clause

by Roxie Ray

thought of all the ways I’d reshaped myself for him, for this relationship. I’d tried being softer. I’d tried being smaller. I had bent myself into the shape of his ideal woman until I forgot what I actually looked like.

I couldn’t win a game where the rules changed every time I got close.

He looked like trouble—the hot kind. The kind you thought you could handle until you woke up wondering how the hell you got into the mess you were in.

If I had to fake-date someone, at least it was someone with excellent arms and a body that looked like it could bench-press my trauma.

Not with someone who smiled like he knew what he wanted and kissed like he already had it.

He wasn’t just pulling-it-together handsome. He was steal-your-breath, meet-my-parents, ruin-your-life handsome.

“Maggie, maybe it’s not about picking the perfect guy. Maybe it’s about picking someone who makes you feel safe. Seen. Cherished.”

They saw me. Not the version I’d curated with eyeliner and sarcasm. Not the polished mask I kept on for other people’s comfort. Just… me. Raw. Too soft. Too small.

“Look, I know this probably sounds like garbage advice right now, but the right person? The right one won’t need to be convinced. You won’t have to bend yourself into painful shapes to make it work. The right one will meet you where you are.”