I meet his gaze.
“Because it’s working,” I say.
The honesty of it lands between us.
Simple.
Unpolished.
True.
Another pause.
Then—
“You are… correct,” he says.
I blink again. “Wow. I’m gonna need you to say that again, I think I hallucinated it.”
His expression tightens just slightly.
“Do not mistake acknowledgment for agreement,” he says.
“Too late,” I grin faintly. “I’m framing it.”
Something shifts again.
Subtle.
But real.
And for the first time?—
This doesn’t feel like survival.
It feels like something else.
Not safe.
Not stable.
But—
Balanced.
In a way that makes my pulse kick just a little faster.
Which is probably a terrible sign.
But I don’t look away.
And neither does he.
14
VERR
She does not leave when she should. She doesn’t.
