The space between them had completely disappeared now, not physically—but emotionally, mentally, in ways neither of them had planned or wanted, yet neither of them stopped.
Zein felt it—the shift, the pull, the quiet gravity that kept bringing her back to him no matter how much she told herself not to let it happen.
"You shouldn't get involved," she said, though her voice lacked conviction.
"I already am," Ace replied.
A pause.
A long one.
And then—
Zein spoke again, softer this time.
"This doesn't end well."
Ace's gaze didn't waver.
"I don't care."
Her heart skipped.
Just once.
And she hated it.
"You should," she whispered.
He stepped even closer.
Close enough that there was no space left for distance, no room for denial, no place to hide from what was slowly, undeniably forming between them.
"And you should stop pretending you don't feel it," he said quietly.
Zein's breath caught.
Her walls—
For the first time—
Didn't feel unbreakable.
And somewhere between fear and something far more dangerous—
She didn't move away.