For a split second, I imagined standing.
Not abruptly. Casually. The kind of movement that gave no warning until space disappeared. My knees would brush hers first, a quiet test, before I nudged them apart. Just enough to fit between. Just enough to claim ground.
I’d lean in, not touching, not yet, close enough to feel the warmth not hidden by her composure. Her scent would fill my lungs, something clean and citrusy and unmistakably her.
Would she gasp?
Would her breath catch, betraying her desire before control snapped back into place?
Or would she push me away, palms firm, eyes blazing, pretending she hadn’t felt the same dangerous pull?
The thought lingered longer than it should have.
Then I sat back, jaw tight, and pretended the room hadn’t shifted at all.
“I did what I had to,” I said, my voice quiet as my pulse kicked up.
She stood, smoothing her skirt with a flick that probably could have drawn blood if she cared to try. “You always do.”
The elevator dinged at the far end of the corridor. Her brother’s voice carried, tinny but insistent. “Eliza? You in there?”
She didn’t look at me as she strode for the door. “Your slide deck’s in the shared folder. Don’t fuck up the footer spacing. And don’t bully him.” A hesitation. “I’ll see you tomorrow at six. Bring coffee.”
The glass door swung shut behind her, leaving a faint imprint of her palm.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten, the way my therapist had once suggested. Then I remembered I’d fired my therapist.
“Valor,” Calvin said, appearing in the doorway with a forced smile that was all canines and none of the warmth. His suit was too perfect for the late hour. “Burning the midnight oil?”
“I was finishing the board materials.”
He hovered, unwilling to sit, pacing the perimeter like a defense attorney. “You didn’t need to drag my sister in at this hour.”
“I didn’t. She invited herself.”
He made a noise that was half laugh, half threat. “She does that. She’ll also pick up the pieces when everyone else crashes.”
“Is that why you’re here?” I asked. “To rescue her from the big bad wolf?” Did he know the thoughts in my mind? How badly I wanted her and enjoyed our verbal sparring?
His eyes narrowed. “I’m here because I have concerns. Valid ones.”
“I hear you. Have you talked to your sister lately? Really talked to her?” I asked, wondering if he knew about someone trying to betray her.
He ran a hand through his perfect hair. “Gabriel, I know you. You’re at your best when you’re winning. But you’ve been… off. For days. And I’m not letting you use my sister as a crutch.”
I almost smiled at the idea. Eliza was nobody’s crutch.
“She’s better at this than you ever were,” I said. “She’s better than me. If you’d stay out of her way-”
He cut me off with a hissed, “I’m not here to argue her resume. I’m here because she’s exhausted. This place chews people up, but she’s not you. She doesn’t bend the rules; she breaks herself trying to keep them.”
We stood like that, neither blinking, the air saturated with things neither of us had the language to say. I knew he loved his sister. I also knew he’d probably never let her call her own shots.
He took a breath, settling. “Just… don’t drag her into your messes. That’s all I ask.”
I nodded, not because I agreed, but because any response would have prolonged the conversation.
He left as abruptly as he’d come, his footsteps echoing down the corridor, a reminder that family was its own kind of liability, and I was stupid for wanting my best friend’s sister.
