Nathan paused, watching the way her hands trembled in her lap, the way her chest rose and fell with the weight of her fear. No one had ever looked at him like that, as if his life mattered.

“I just… I couldn’t let him hurt you,” Nathan said softly, each word deliberate, his voice barely above a whisper.

Silence settled between them, thick with the things they couldn’t say. The hum of the streetlights and the distant bark of a dog filled the space, but it was their racing hearts that ...