That.
That right there.
I felt something shift in my chest.
Because she wasn't talking about Brody.
Not really.
She was talking about wanting more.
Wanting depth. Fire. Devotion.
And I'd seen the way she and Rhett circled each other earlier like magnets pretending the pull wouldn't inevitably snap them together.
I studied her profile.
She wasn't heartbroken.
She was… disappointed.
At the version of love she'd accepted.
"You don't sound angry," I said.
She shrugged. "I was. For like a minute." A small smile curved her lips. "But Brody doesn't do anything halfway. If he called it off, it's because he thought he was doin' the right thing. Even if he's wrong."
There was affection in her voice. Deep. Old.
But not longing.
That was the difference.
"And you?" she asked suddenly, turning those sharp green eyes on me. "What do you want?"
I almost deflected.
Almost made a joke.
But something about the way she asked—no judgment, no challenge—stopped me.
"I don't stay long enough to want more than exactly what I got."
"That sounds lonely."
"It's strategic."
She studied me. "You don't strike me as someone who runs because she doesn't feel. You strike me as someone who runs because she feels too much."
Damn.
I finished my beer and set it down.
"I don't mess with men who are still tangled up," I said.
"He's not tangled," she replied softly. "He's… untethered."
And that felt different.
