The noise of the party blurred into a dull roar—music thudding, laughter rising and falling, glasses clinking—but all Rafe seemed to hear was me. His gaze stayed heavy on me the whole time, dark and burning, like he’d been holding his breath for hours and couldn’t wait another second. When Liam finally stormed off, the last thread snapped. Rafe leaned in close, his voice rough and thick, vibrating right through me:
“C’mon. We never finished what we started before the mill. And I’m done waiting.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, just curled his fingers around my hand and tugged me gently but firmly through the crowd, past grinning faces and knowing looks, up the stairs and down a quiet hallway until we were inside his room—door shut, lock clicking, and suddenly it was just us. The air shifte
