Connor’s POV
I watched Claire’s face fall the second the words left my mouth. Shame hit her features hard, washing over her like cold water. Her cheeks flushed darker, eyes dropping straight to her hands as she tugged her shirt back down with fingers that still shook a little from everything we’d just done.
I stood there one beat too long. The heat of her body still clung to my skin like it had burned its way in. But I couldn’t stay. Not after that.
I turned and walked out, pulling the door shut behind me with a soft click that felt louder than it should have.
The hallway stretched ahead of me, but my pulse was still racing like I’d just finished a full-moon run. Hurt sat heavy in my chest, sharper than any injury I’d taken in years. I couldn’t believe she’d tried to play me like that—
