Day chooses to highlight each of Eva and Gideon’s first meetings with a fall. In the lobby of the Crossfire Building, Eva is enraptured with Gideon’s beauty and loses all sense of control. Her attraction to Gideon is instant and undeniable. Eva senses the dominance in Gideon from their first meeting as she looks in his eyes and senses “a near-tangible impression of vibrant and unrelenting power” (5). The physical act of falling leaves her in a vulnerable position, a reality that will come to fruition throughout the novel as she learns to trust Gideon with the truth about her traumatic past and with her heart. Day uses the physical act of falling to portray sudden and intense attraction that draws Eva and Gideon together almost instantaneously. Eva loses all control in the presence of Gideon, who pushes her to question the patterns of survival she has employed throughout her life. As they navigate the obstacles of their relationship, Eva and Gideon return to this instant attraction that physically pulls them in to recalibrate and reconnect with themselves.

Desperate to regain control of her life after her childhood sexual abuse, Eva chooses independence as a shield to protect her from being hurt.