Alex Pov
I couldn’t hold it. The tension was suffocating, and I turned my head slightly, breaking the connection. “Do you think this is stupid?” I whispered.
Nikolai’s voice was low, rough, almost reluctant. “Yeah. I do.”
I nodded, feeling the weight of it all. I wanted to leave. I wanted to run away from the act we were trying to put on, but that wasn’t an option. Not now. Not when everything depended on this.
Marlo clicked his fingers sharply. “Keep staring at each other. Look like you want to be close.”
I turned back to Nikolai, and my breath caught. His eyes, those intense eyes, seemed to pull me in. It wasn’t just an exercise anymore. For a split second, I almost forgot where I was, what I was doing. It was just me and him, sitting there, facing each other. But it was all wrong.
