Jennifer’s POV
“You… drove all the way here?” The words came out small, fragile.
“Mm.”
A sound. Not an answer.
I tried again. “Was it far?”
“No.”
The monosyllables should have closed the conversation, but instead they hung between us like challenge. I stared at the tea, watching the steam curl upward, willing myself not to grow frustrated.
I tried to smile. “You’re terrible at this.”
He didn’t so much as blink.
“One-word answers,” I continued, refusing to let the silence choke me. “I’m starting to think you came here just to test me.”
Something shifted in his face. Not a smile, not quite—but a twitch, fleeting, like the ghost of something he’d buried long ago.
That tiny flicker felt like a victory, even if it vanished before I could catch it.
I leaned forward, cup clutched tigh
