But I don’t move.
I can’t.
Every nerve feels awake.
Every breath feels louder.
Every inch of space between us feels like it’s burning.
Then…
Click.
The sound snaps through the moment like a breaking thread.
I blink.
Dex steps back.
Just like that.
Space floods in between us again, cool and empty and wrong.
It takes me a second to understand what happened.
He opened the door.
He’s standing beside it now, one hand still resting casually against the handle like nothing just happened. Like he didn’t just tilt my entire world sideways in the span of five seconds.
Like he didn’t just prove exactly how dangerous he is.
And exactly how weak I am around him.
“Bastard,” I mutter, turning away before he can see what’s still written all over my face.
His quiet chuckle follows me.
Low.
Unbothered.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Of course he has.
Of course he sounds like he almost enjoyed this.
I force my breathing to slow as I step past him, but the scent of him lingers in the air behind me, and it follows me down the hallway like something I can’t quite shake.
And the worst part?
I’m not sure I want to.
CHAPTER 15
Alexis
The lunch crowd is thinner than usual.
