The door clicked shut behind Marla, and the silence that followed was jagged—thick with things neither of them dared touch.
Jax didn’t move from the entryway.
Dani didn’t lift her eyes.
The apartment, small as it was, suddenly felt like a minefield. One wrong word and the fragile distance between them would explode.
“You don’t usually let people in,” he said eventually, voice too low, too casual.
Dani kept her eyes on the plate in front of her, still half-full. “She didn’t give me a choice.”
“Marla never does.”
She nodded once, the smallest movement. Her shoulders were tight, arms still wrapped around her like armor. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. Still had his hoodie on, sleeves swallowed by her hands.
She looked breakable.
But she also looked like she’d fight anyone who tried
