Denise didn’t look away from him.
Not this time.
Liam’s last sentence lingered in the space between them like something unfinished—like a door that had been opened but not yet walked through.
“I don’t trust myself around you,” he had said.
Denise repeated it softly. “Around me?”
Liam didn’t correct her.
That was the answer.
Below them, the forest was quiet again, but it wasn’t the same kind of quiet as before. This one felt like it had settled into patience instead of retreat.
Denise exhaled slowly. “So you’re saying I’m dangerous to you.”
Liam’s jaw tightened slightly.
“No,” he said.
A pause.
Then quieter:
“You’re… influential.”
Denise gave him a flat look. “That’s just a nicer word.”
“It’s more precise,” he replied.
Denise shook her head. “No, it’s avoiding the point.”
L
