Brandon's POV
I didn't know how much longer I could hold on before I broke.
The tension between us had stretched impossibly thin—fragile, electric, vibrating between our bodies like a live wire. One wrong breath, one careless movement, and it would snap. My body was already leaning toward hers, closing a distance my mind kept screaming at me to respect. Every nerve in me begged for restraint, for control, but my heart… my heart was losing the argument.
And then it happened.
Both our phones chimed at the exact same second.
The sound cut through the moment like a blade.
We both flinched.
Pulled back.
Our movements mirrored each other—almost instinctive—as our eyes dropped to our screens, the air between us suddenly cold where it had just been burning.
"It's Madison," Chloe said softly.
Her voice barely carried, like she wasn't even sure she wanted the words to exist.
But I was already staring at my phone.
Madison.
