Slowly, he stepped closer, and Aria felt her heartbeat pick up faster than she would have liked. It pounded in her chest like a frantic drum, loud enough in her own ears that she feared Jared might hear it too. Her breath caught as a sudden awareness bloomed inside her—a sharp, almost frightening kind of heat that coiled low in her belly.
The words he spoke about being interested in her were inconsequential compared to how she felt as she realized that Zyren wasn't the only one she felt the heat towards. Something that was clearly not a good thing.
Her fingers twitched at her side, curled into the soft fabric of her coat. It wasn't just the cold that was making her tense—it was the sharp realization that she could be pulled toward someone else the same way she was drawn to Zyren. She hated that about herself. Hated the betrayal in her own body.
