Dark. Deep. Heavy. They locked on mine the second he faced me, and I felt like I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. There was something in them I couldn’t read—something sharp and assessing, but also calm, like he had already figured me out before I’d said a single word.

We just stared at each other for what felt like far too long.

It wasn’t a normal kind of silence. It was heavier, like the air in the room had thickened and gotten warmer somehow. Every second that ticked by made me ...