Belle****
The weight of his words wraps around me, heavy and suffocating, but I can’t let it end here. I take a shaky step forward, closing the distance between us. My hand brushes his arm, my fingers trembling against the taut muscles beneath his shirt. He doesn’t pull away, but his body is coiled tight, like a storm about to break.
“Jake,” I whisper, my voice trembling with an edge of desperation. “You can’t just say things like that and expect me to walk away. I deserve more than half-truths and excuses.”
His head snaps toward me, and the raw intensity in his gaze stops me in my tracks. His eyes are dark, shadowed with guilt and something deeper, something dangerous.
“I’m trying to protect you,” he says through clenched teeth, his voice low and rough.
I swallow hard, refusing to ba
