I grinned and elbowed him. “I’m your friend, even if you won’t admit it.”
He looked at me, and for a moment a flash of heat sparked in his eyes. “My friend, huh. I don’t thinkfriendis the right way to describe what I think about you.”
“Oh no?” I asked. “Then what?”
He exhaled through his nose, slow and controlled, like he was reining something in.
“Complicated,” he said at last.
I tilted my head. “That’s vague.”
“Yeah. That’s on purpose.”
I smiled faintly, then looked back out over the valley. “Story of my life.”
We stayed there for a moment, the night pressing in around us.
“I don’t want to make things harder for you,” he added, quieter now. “You’ve got enough people trying to control you.”
I swallowed, my gaze fixed on the dark stretch of land below.
“Feels like I never get to just… be,” I said. “Everyone always wants something from me.”
Dev nodded slightly. “I get that.” His gaze stayed on me, steady. “But you don’t have to prove anything to me.”
“I just—” He stopped, like he’d said too much already. “I like being around you.”
He exhaled slowly, like he was trying to steady himself.
Heat rose to my face before I could stop it.
Something shifted in the space between us—subtle, but enough that I felt it.
Dev stepped closer.
I nudged him lightly with my hip, like I could play it off.
He didn’t move away.
He stood close enough that I could feel the warmth of him at my side, steady and distracting all at once.
“I don’t think anyone knows what to do with me now,” I said quietly.
Dev followed my gaze. “That usually means you didn’t do what they expected.”
I huffed a soft laugh. “That’s not very comforting.”
“Yeah,” he said, almost under his breath. “I’m not particularly good at that.”
We stood in silence for a moment. It wasn’t awkward. Just… heavy.
“They wanted you to say yes,” he said eventually.
“I know.”
“And you didn’t.”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t.”
