plan to co

t... h

ms, tea gone cold in her hand, thoughts sharp-edged from too litt

li

an beyond the glass deserved more focus than the people moving behind him. The light from outside cut across t

e was avoidi

g in her

doing

The words were already out, and there was no pulling them back into her mouth. For a second she almost wished h

rt. As if he'd been waiting for this

t?" he ask

nearly u

ena hated it on principle, because she recognized it-recognized the way someon

herself, anger pushing her forward like a tide. "That. Watching fro

listening. He didn't shift his weight or tighten his posture like someone caught doing somet

ssuming-"

anything," she c

er as much as they se

n she "felt" him the way people claimed intuition in a vague, airy way. She meant something literal and immediat

ened. A flicker passed behind his eyes

efore she said something she couldn't take back. Her fingers tightened aro

, quieter now but no less intense

ened, almost

herself together by force. "I've been here before. With someone who knew things they wouldn't

idn't in

ade it

ould be dismissal

aming, and someone keeps holding back," she said, voice r

st her cardigan was absurdly loud in the tension between them. Lena didn't step as

e stre

rustration spilling into anger now, raw and unfiltered, "but when you p

aking. She didn't

t to stand there acting like restraint is some kind of virtue when it's just-"

sed his ey

ation. Not i

ke restraint pu

smooth. It was strained-deliberate-held together by will alone. Like a man holdi

ght," he s

opped h

d braced for denial. For deflection. For a ha

he gave h

he continued. "And you're

undered in her

s if he were choosing words with care-placing each one

low, "I misjudged how much someone c

nded heavily

t t

one

ist

g bells still echoing in her chest. She'd had enough experience to recognize rehearsed re

e saw wasn'

was

deep and didn't

to take its place. The shift left her unstea

w that part of me recognizes you, and part of me wants to push you as f

eadily. No heat. No per

an be,"

of it stol

dn't argue her into calm. It simply made r

Her fingers loosened on the crushed tea cup. S

ot the watching-from-a-distance thing. If you're in

contained movement that someho

, but it wasn't explosive anymore. It had shifted into so

something that unsettled her mo

't foll

her back. No sudden attempt to fix it, s

at didn't feel

like r

far more

ect meant he

hatever this was between them w

al enough

ad just dr

see whether he