Evie turned back to Daisy, smoothing her hand over hers, grounding herself again in the work.
But she could still feel Maggie’s gaze on her.
Not cold.
Not distant.
Watching.
Afterward, in the narrow supply room, Evie called Maggie and closed the door behind them.
The click echoed louder than it should have.
Maggie turned slowly, already guarded, already bracing.
“You don’t get to touch me like that,” Evie said, voice low but steady, “and then disappear on me emotionally.”
Maggie exhaled through her nose, one hand lifting to her temple. “I’m not disappearing.”
Evie shook her head. “You are. You just call it responsibility so it sounds cleaner.”
“That’s not fair,” Maggie said, immediately.
Evie stepped closer—not crowding her but refusing distance. “Then explain it to me. Explain how last night was real enough to happen, but not real enough to acknowledge.”
Maggie’s jaw tightened. “Evie, you’re my junior. I’m senior faculty. This—” She gestured vaguely between them. “—this is exactly the situation people warn you about.”
“You’re talking like I don’t understand the risk,” Evie said quietly. “Like I didn’t think about it. Like I didn’t choose.”
Maggie met her gaze sharply. “I’m talking like Ididchoose. And I’m the one who has to live with the fallout if this goes wrong. I wish you weren’t so fucking magnetic.”
Evie’s voice dropped. “Ha, so I’m collateral?”
Maggie stiffened. “No.”
“That’s what it feels like,” Evie said. “You don’t get to make a decision with me, and then make another oneaboutme.”
Silence pressed in, thick and uncomfortable.
Maggie looked away first. “I’m trying to protect you.”
Evie laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. “From what? Yourself? Or from the fact that you wanted me? I think this says more about you, Maggie. You’re afraid that I see something in you, aren’t you?”
Maggie closed her eyes for a beat.
“That’s not the same thing,” Maggie said, carefully.
“It is to me,” Evie replied. “Because you don’t get to act like this was something that happenedtoyou. You invited me in. You asked me to stay.”
Maggie’s voice was tight now. “And I shouldn’t have.”
Evie’s chest ached, but she didn’t let it show. “Then say that. Don’t pretend this is about ethics when it’s about fear.”
Maggie’s gaze snapped back to her. “You think this is easy for me?”
“I think it’s easier for you to shut down than to sit in the mess,” Evie said. “Because I bet you’ve been doing it for years.”
That landed.
