“Nothing at work.”
“But not nothing.”
His gaze held mine. “Not nothing.”
I nodded, trying to put the rule somewhere stable in my head where it wouldn’t get lost under want and guilt and routine changes.
He opened the door a crack, checked the hallway, then looked back at me.
I should have left.
Instead I stepped into him and kissed him one last time.
It was brief because it had to be. Mouth to mouth, his hand at my waist, my fingers catching his wrist. No heat chasing more. No command. Just proof that the room had been real.
When I pulled away, he let me go.
I walked down the hall with my shirt buttoned correctly, my phone buzzing again in my pocket, and the taste of him still on my mouth.
For once, I did not run.
I counted my steps to the elevator, breathed through the guilt, and carried the rule with me like something fragile I had agreed not to break.
Chapter 20
Chapter 20
DECLAN
By the time the plane lifted off, I had read the same line in the postgame report nine times and retained none of it.
Across the aisle, two rows back, Jace sat by the window with his headphones on and his hood pulled up. Roman was beside him, long legs stretched out, eyes closed, one hand wrapped around a coffee he had no intention of drinking. The rest of the plane had settled into the usual road-trip exhaustion. Low voices. Seat belts clicking. Someone laughing too loudly in the back until Benny told him to shut it down. The soft mechanical hum that usually let me work.
I did not look at Jace.
I kept not looking at him.
That took more discipline than watching him would have.
There had been no private contact since he left my hotel room. Necessary texts only. Logistics. Bus time. Morning mobility. A reminder to the leadership group about video when we landed. I had typed nothing else and deleted more than I wanted to admit.
Did you sleep?
Are you green?
Did Roman ask questions?
Did you wake up with regret?
The last one stayed under my skin.
Jace had boarded quietly. Not withdrawn. Not sulking. Just quieter than his usual, rough-edged electricity. He had his bag zipped. He was on time. He answered Tessa when she asked him to record a short arrival clip for social, but he did it without the extra joke, without filling every second of silence. When Milo tried to drag him into an argument about who controlled the locker room music after wins, Jace shrugged and said, “Not me today.”
Milo looked betrayed.
Roman looked at him for a long moment and said nothing.
I noticed all of it.
