Chapter nineteen
I replayed his question like a lingering caress: "Tell me, do you feel the same?"
My answer came breathless, carried by his closeness—by the way his voice lingered, the way the air felt charged between us.
“Yes.”
The word slipped out before I could catch it. I waited for his next move.
But he didn’t react the way I expected.
No shift closer. No change in his expression. Instead, he just looked at me, puzzled, a faint crease forming between his brows—like he was trying to follow a step I’d taken alone.
“Yes…?” he echoed. “Yes, what?”
I blinked, the haze clearing like fog blown away.
He hadn’t confessed. Hadn’t leaned in. Hadn’t laid his heart bare the way he had in my mind.
He was still just looking at me—curious, a faint, playful smile tugging at his mouth.
He
