_Nathan’s POV_
Miles didn’t drive us back to campus right away.
He took a longer route past the edge of the athletic complex and parked under the trees behind the old practice lot, where fewer people cut through at this hour. When he finally shut off the engine, the quiet settled fast.
“Say it again,” he said.
I stared out the windshield. “He wants me. Not as a temporary formal contact. Politically. Personally. He thinks if he stays close long enough under legitimate cover, the people around me will start treating it as normal.”
Miles’s hands flexed once against the wheel. “And he thinks I can be eroded.”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He gave a short, humorless breath. “Then he can learn how wrong that is.”
“That’s not a plan.”
“It’s a starting point.” Miles turned his head toward me. “Because e
