He looked good. Too good. The t-shirt clung to his shoulders and chest in ways that made it hard to look anywhere else. His hair was messy from the shower, falling across his forehead. The line of his jaw. The way his throat moved when he swallowed.
I wanted to kiss him.
The thought hit me hard.
"So." Alex didn't cross his arms this time. Didn't put up walls. Just looked at me with something open in his expression. "You came."
"Said I would."
"I know. But you could've changed your mind."
"Thought about it. About a hundred times on the walk over."
Something flickered in his eyes. "But you're here anyway."
"Yeah." I took a step closer like a dumb chunk of metal drawn in by a magnet. "I am."
Alex didn't move back. Didn't create distance. Just watched me with those blue eyes.
"We're supposed to talk about the closet… and about Monday," he said.
"I know."
"About what happens when we're training together."
"Yeah."
Silence. He was waiting. Not pushing — just leaving space for me to fill or not.
"That's not why I came," I said.
I wasn't sure why I said that but it made something shift in him. He wanted this too, but he didn't press. Just held my gaze and let the admission sit between us.
"Okay," he said.
"The closet was—" I started.
I stopped. Didn't know how to finish.
Alex didn't finish it for me.
But I could see it. The want. Barely contained behind that composure.
"I have a girlfriend. Or… had. Maybe. I don't know. Emily said she needed time."
His throat moved. A swallow he couldn't hide. "Did you tell her? About us?"
"No. But I lied to her. About breaking into Kingswell. About a lot of things. She's pissed. Says she can't trust me anymore."
He nodded slowly. "Makes sense. No one knows about me."
And then the words fell out of my mouth. Something about him standing in front of me made me say stupid things. "I don't know anything right now except that I can't stop thinking about you. And I don't know what the fuck that means."
Something in Alex's expression cracked. Not all at once — just enough for me to see underneath. A relief so sharp it looked like pain.
But he didn't move. Didn't close the distance.
"Do you want to stop?" he asked. Voice barely steady.
