(Michelle POV)
Steven drove slower than usual.
Not because the road demanded it — it was clear, familiar, empty at this hour — but because the silence inside the car had turned fragile, like one sudden word might shatter it.
It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
It was the kind that lingered after something significant had happened. Something that changed the shape of the air.
My fingers were still warm.
My lips still tingled faintly, as if my skin was trying to memorise the exact sensation of his.
And my heartbeat?
Oh, it was an absolute traitor.
We didn't talk much after the kiss. Just soft murmurs. Gentle reassurance. A quiet kind of care that wrapped around my chest and refused to loosen its grip.
When his car finally rolled to a stop in front of the Lui residence, the familiar gates looming ahead, I felt a strange mix of reluctance and relief.
Reluctance — because I wasn't ready for the night to end.
