The phone vibrated hard against the marble.
The sharp sound cut through the room, sudden and electric, breaking whatever strange, suffocating hold had settled between them. Jay's eyes dropped instantly to the screen, the name lighting up through the thin gap beneath Asher's hand.
Roman.
For a second, everything else disappeared.
Then it snapped back.
Jay moved.
His hand came up and shoved Asher back, not hesitant this time, not polite. The force of it caught Asher off guard just enough to push him a step away from the sink. The space between them opened, finally, and Jay took it without thinking, grabbing his phone in the same motion.
"Get out."
His voice was low. Not loud. Not shaking. Just final.
Asher didn't react the way he should have. No anger. No argument. No embarrassment. He straightened slowly, adjusting his sleeve like nothing had happened, like being pushed away meant nothing.
Then he smiled.
Not wide. Not friendly.
Something smaller. Controlled.
