By the time I left Ethan’s office earlier, I had convinced myself I could handle it.
That whatever this was, I would stay calm, stay logical, stay in control.
That illusion didn’t last long.
Because the moment I stepped back into the open office, everything felt different again. Not visibly. No one was staring, no one was whispering, nothing looked out of place. But the awareness was there, crawling under my skin in a way I couldn’t ignore.
“You look like you just walked out of a storm,” Lila said as I approached my desk.
“I didn’t.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
I hesitated briefly before sitting down. “Just a conversation.”
“With him?”
I gave her a look. “You ask questions you already know the answer to.”
She shrugged slightly. “I like confirmation.”
I opened my laptop, tr
