Evaline:
Being alone with River in one room was already enough to make my heart hammer, but now… now the entire mansion felt too quiet.
Draven and Oscar had just left, their laughter still faintly echoing in my ears, but their absence was loud. Too loud. It was just me and River now... well, and the servants and guards somewhere in the distance, but they didn't count. Not when every step River took seemed to resonate through me, every quiet glance stealing my breath.
I couldn't even disappear into my bedroom to avoid him. My legs refused to move, my heart was doing somersaults, and instead of fleeing, I stood rooted in place like some deer caught in headlights.
Fumbling with my fingers, I darted glances everywhere except at him - the polished floor, the crackling fire in the living room fireplace, the grand staircase. Anywhere but his face.
And then, inevitably, I did look.
