I held my silence, carefully placing her back on the ground. An irresistible urge tempted me to keep her in my arms, but I couldn't risk losing control. The proximity, the warmth shared in that fleeting embrace, stirred something within me—an aspect of myself that I had long denied and controlled. Yet, over the past twenty-four hours, it seemed as if my hold on that restraint was slipping away.
Jade cleared her throat, diverting her gaze from mine. I watched as her eyes remained lowered, avoiding contact, while she absentmindedly fixed the wrinkles in her shirt caused by my grasp. "Umm, Ezra and Dina must be waiting for us," she muttered, the tension palpable in her voice as she continued to evade direct eye contact. Her words hung in the air, a delicate shield she wielded to deflect the
