Spending so much time with Cade was changing the way I saw him.
It was in the way he cheated shamelessly at cards, grinning like he’d just invented new rules.
In the way, his laugh burst out, careless and alive.
Also, how I sometimes caught him staring when he thought I wasn’t looking, eyes lingering on my mouth like he was imagining something he had no business imagining.
Something between us had shifted, especially after Kimberly’s ultimatum, when Cade told her to leave instead of asking me to.
We never spoke of it. We acted like nothing had changed. But I felt it in the silences, in the way my chest tightened when he looked too long.
And I hated it. Because this soft spot I was developing for him? It wasn’t part of the plan.
So when Kelvin messaged, asking how Cade was holding up
