The silence that followed was deafening.
Leo's eyes widened, disbelief flickering across his face before his jaw tightened hard. He leaned back slightly, but his gaze stayed locked on her like he was trying to read her entire soul. "Yes?" he repeated, his voice low, dangerous, as though the word itself didn't belong in her mouth.
Bella tilted her head, blinking at him innocently. "Mm-hm," she hummed with a tiny nod. "When I was six, in kindergarten, a boy gave me his eraser and said he liked me. So I said yes."
Her lips curved into a sheepish smile as if it was a perfectly normal thing to confess. "But then…" She puffed her cheeks. "The very next day he liked another girl, so I broke up with him."
Leo stared at her, his face caught between shock and something else—relief, frustration, maybe even a flicker of amusement. For a long second, his gray eyes just stayed on her, searching, and then a deep chuckle escaped his chest. He leaned in again, his breath brushing her ear.
