Elena's POV:
“Your room or mine?”
…I felt it the second the words left my mouth.
The shift.
The way the air between us changed. Caleb Monroe stilled completely.
His jaw clenched. His eyes—those dark, dangerous eyes that had been burning into me seconds ago—lost that wild glow, replaced by something heavier. Something guarded. Something that hurt far worse than rejection.
“Elena…” he started, then stopped, like even my name was a line he wasn’t sure he was allowed to cross again.
My chest tightened.
Oh.
Oh no.
Was that it? Was all of this... only meant to exist in the space of that kiss? I pulled back slightly, my heart already starting to bruise. I was stupid. Goddess, once again, I had thrown caution to the winds and stupidly, earnestly showed him what he meant to me, and he, on
