Lance
I saw how she froze the moment the words left my mouth. She didn't answer right away, she just looked at me. Straight. Silent. As if she were carefully weighing whether I was serious or merely playing some cruel joke. It felt like she was searching my eyes for cracks, for hesitation, for any sign that I might still take everything back. I noticed the way tears slowly gathered in her eyes, clinging to her lashes, shimmering dangerously close to spilling over—but she fought them. She refused to let them fall.
Somehow, that hurt more than if she had cried.
She straightened her back and adjusted the way she sat, as if deliberately putting distance between us even though we were only a foot apart. That single, subtle movement made my chest tighten. My pulse spiked.
Did she t
