Like she’s forcing herself to stay put—as if leaving now would mean admitting something happened.
I lean back, exhaling slowly, letting the moment settle.
She clicks through her laptop, aggressively scrolling, eyes fixed on the screen like if she looks at me for too long, she might give something away.
I watch her fingers move over the trackpad, a little too tense, a little too deliberate.
She’s rattled.
And fuck if I don’t like it.
Not in the way I like winning an argument with her.Not in the way I like getting under her skin just to watch her snap at me.
No—this is different.
This is her not snapping at me.This is her staying when she could have walked away.
This is her not trusting herself to look at me, but not trusting herself to leave, either.
I clear my throat, shifting slightly, stretching out my legs like I’m completely fine.Like my pulse isn’t still thudding from whatever the hell that just was.
Anna finally risks a glance at me, her mouth pressed into a thin, determinedly neutral line.
I smirk, just to see her eyes narrow.
She huffs, turning back to her laptop, clicking on the first song she sees.
Another bright, aggressively cheerful children’s song blasts through the speakers.
I groan immediately, scrubbing a hand over my face.“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Anna finally smirks.
The tension still lingers.The air between us is still charged, like a wire humming just beneath the surface.
But when she looks at me now, it’s different.
A little less guarded.
Less angry.
Like maybe—just maybe—she’s starting to let me in again.
And for the first time in years, I start to think?—
Maybe I have a chance.
CHAPTER21
Anna
Iamnotokay.
I’m a complete mess.A full, walking disaster wrapped in a cardigan that’s starting to feel too hot, sitting in the back of Dirty Books while my brain replays the worst possible highlight reel of my life.
Specifically—Joel reading my book.
And not justreadingit.Oh, no.Of all the pages he could turn to, he had to readthatpart.