So I didn’t.
Instead I just nodded once and went back to my screen.
But the silence between us changed after that.
Less sharp.
More real.
His knee was still against mine.
Eight
CHAPTER EIGHT
MASON
She didn’t move away.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Not the rain. Not the café noise. Not even my phone buzzing again in my pocket.
Just Rowan still there.
Knee against mine like it wasn’t a thing worth correcting.
Most people would’ve shifted by now. Pretended it didn’t happen. Made space. Done the polite awkward shuffle.
Rowan didn’t.
She just kept typing.
Like she trusted me not to make it weird.
Or like she didn’t care if I did.
Either option was annoying.
“Your dad’s intense,” she said suddenly, eyes still on her screen.
I let out a short laugh. “That’s one word for it.”
“What’s the other?”
I hesitated.
Didn’t answer immediately.
Because I didn’t have a clean version of it.
Rowan finally looked at me.
Not soft. Not sympathetic.
Just… waiting.
That was worse somehow.
