“You don’t get to leave me standing in it alone.”
That landed.
Hard.
For a heartbeat—just one—she saw it.
The crack.
The want he hadn’t buried nearly as well as he thought.
He leaned toward her—barely, like his body forgot the rules his mind was trying to enforce.
And that was the dangerous part.
Because she wanted him to break.
Consequences be damned.
Him.
Right there.
“Say it,” she whispered. “Say you don’t want this.”
Silence.
Then—
He stepped back.
Not hesitation this time.
Decision.
“I don’t.”
The lie sat between them.
Ugly.
Obvious.
Izzy held his gaze one second longer—searching, just to be sure.
Then she pulled the silk higher across her, her chin lifting just enough.
“Fine,” she said.
A beat.
“Goodnight, Grant.”
She turned and walked away, the soft pad of her bare feet against the hardwood a quiet rhythm that marked every inch of the distance he’d demanded.
She didn’t look back.
Grant stayed in the hallway until the click of her door echoed like a final verdict. Only then did he exhale, his hand finding the wall to steady himself.
