The night air was cool as they drove back from the event.
Ava sat quietly beside Jace, the silence between them stretching like a wire pulled too tight. Her fingers toyed with the hem of her dress, her eyes fixed on the passing lights.
"Do you always do that?" she finally asked.
He glanced at her. "Do what?"
"Touch someone like that… then walk away like it meant nothing?"
He was quiet for a moment. "It's easier that way."
"Easier for who?"
"For both of us."
Ava let out a short, bitter laugh. "Right. Because God forbid anything feels real in this… arrangement."
He didn't respond.
When the car pulled into the driveway, Ava stepped out before he could open the door. She didn't wait for him as she walked inside, heels clicking like thunder on the marble floor. She wanted distance, space—anything that would stop her chest from tightening every time he looked at her that way.
---
She was in the kitchen, barefoot and in a robe, when he walked in ten minutes later.
"You're angry," he said.
"No," she replied without looking up. "I'm just adjusting to what it feels like to be furniture."
"Ava—"
"You keep saying this isn't real. But then you touch me like it is. You look at me like you see me, and then you vanish behind that stone wall you carry around."
He ran a hand through his hair. It was the first time she'd seen him look unsure.
"I don't do relationships," he said. "I'm not good at them."
"Well, lucky for you," she snapped, "this isn't a relationship. It's a transaction. One year, remember?"
She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.
"I wasn't lying. You looked… beautiful tonight."
She froze.
Slowly, she turned to face him, her voice softer now. "Why are you doing this, Jace? What are you really running from?"
He looked at her for a long moment, and for once, she saw something raw flicker behind his guarded eyes.
"Everyone I've ever loved left," he said. "So I stopped letting people in."
Ava's breath caught.
She didn't know what surprised her more—that he admitted it, or that it hurt to hear.
---
Later that night, she couldn't sleep.
She stared at the ceiling, her mind spinning with his words, the heat of his gaze, the way he said "beautiful" like it was more than just a compliment.
She thought this arrangement would numb her. That a year with a man like Jace would be cold, calculated, safe.
But nothing about this felt safe anymore.
Not the way her heartbeat quickened when he was near.
Not the way her body remembered his touch even when he walked away.
Not the way her heart whispered that this might become more than either of them were ready for.