HOPE
Everything had changed.
Not just the way he looked at me—softer now, more lingering. Or the way his touch wasn’t always fire and restraint, but warmth. Real.
It was everything. The silence. The eye contact. The way he stood just a little closer than before.
Ace Mason, the man who didn’t bend for anyone, loosened up around me. He smirked more. Joked, even. Touched me just because.
It would be delusional to think I hadn’t trapped him. And yet... the dangerous part? I felt trapped too.
Not by him. But by whatever this was—between us. I kept reminding myself why I was here. What I was supposed to be doing. But each time he pulled me into his arms, whispered my name like a secret only he was allowed to keep, it got harder to remember.
We stayed back for a few extra days after the ga
