“What changed tonight?” she asked softly.
You.
That answer came way too fast in my head.
I didn’t say it.
Obviously.
Instead I looked away briefly toward the skyline.
“Too many variables,” I muttered.
That made her laugh unexpectedly.
Actually laugh.
Not the small controlled version.
Real.
I looked back at her immediately.
And there it was again—
that stupid feeling in my chest every time she forgot to guard herself for half a second.
ROWAN
He looked genuinely distracted by my laugh.
Which was… interesting.
“You are unbelievably weird,” I told him.
“I’ve been informed.”
“By who?”
“Everyone.”
“That feels accurate.”
He huffed a quiet laugh through his nose.
Tiny.
Barely there.
Still counted.
And suddenly the tension felt different.
Not gone.
Never gone.
But looser around the edges.
