“Why.”
“Because this party keeps getting worse.”
I laughed softly.
“No,” I said. “You’re just losing your ability to control it.”
That landed directly.
His gaze sharpened immediately.
Not angry.
Focused.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
That word shouldn’t have affected me the way it did.
Mason never admitted uncertainty.
And tonight he kept doing it.
Again and again.
Like exhaustion had finally cracked something open.
MASON
She looked warmer now.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
More open around the edges.
That was becoming dangerous territory fast.
Because every second this conversation continued, it got harder to pretend I wasn’t affected by her.
And Rowan?
She was starting to realise it too.
The crowd shifted suddenly beside us.
Someone dancing backwards slammed into Rowan hard enough that she stumbled sideways.
Straight into me.
Instinct took over before thought.
Hands catching her automatically.
One at her waist.
One against her arm.
