The words hung in the air, heavier than they should have been. Her chest tightened.

Hunter’s eyes stayed on her a second too long. Then he nodded once. “Good.”

He moved on. But Courtney could feel it—an invisible string pulling between them. Every word he spoke afterward carried a weight she couldn’t ignore.

When the lecture finally ended, students gathered their books and rushed out, chatting, laughing, free of the tension she felt in her bones.

Courtney stayed seated, gathering ...