-POV Derby
The heavy linen of the tablecloth felt freezing against my bare forearms as the group finally drifted away, their laughter blending back into the acoustic roar of the ballroom. I didn't drop my chin. Old habits from the operational floor kept my head straight, but the skin around my eyes felt tight and dry, stretched so thin I was terrified a single blink would let the heat behind my lids spill over.
Beside me, the space Jordan occupied suddenly shifted.
The institutional mask he had been wearing while nodding at the director’s financial jargon didn't shatter, but I felt the exact moment his focus snapped back to the immediate three inches of reality separating our chairs. His large hand, which had been resting flat near his water glass, twitched.
His fingers slid an inch a
