~CELINE’S POV~
The air in the hallway feels thick. Suffocating. It’s pressing in on me from all sides. I should leave. I should walk past Hunter, answer Cole, and pretend this moment never happened.
But I don’t. Because Hunter doesn’t move.
His eyes stay locked on mine, dark and unreadable, the way they always are when he’s thinking something he won’t say out loud. His body is still, but there’s a suspense in his stance—like he’s holding himself back.
Like if I push him, even a little, he might snap.
I swallow hard and shift my weight, gripping Caesar’s toy tighter. “I should go,” I say, forcing my voice to stay calm. “He’s waiting.”
Hunter’s jaw tightens. And then, quietly—too quietly—he says, “He can wait.”
I blink. “What?”
Hunter breathes out sharply, but it doesn’t
