Axel’s brow furrowed slightly. He had expected tension, maybe some residual anger—but not this. Not her voice so quiet, so hesitant, yet carrying a weight that pressed into him without needing to touch. He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to react. He opened his mouth once, then closed it again, the words failing him in that rare, precarious way.
Harmony exhaled slowly, a quiet sigh that seemed to ease some of the tension she had been holding in her chest. “But I don’t hate you,” she continued, her honey-colored eyes finally lifting just enough to flick briefly toward him. “As much as I want to, I… I cannot bring myself to.”
Axel’s hand went instinctively to the neck of his beer, then dropped it beside him on the ground, the clink of the glass against the grass sounding louder th
