At the top of the staircase, Lucy held her chin high, trying to mask the storm in her chest. Barry stood close enough that the heat of him brushed against her bare arm, but he didn’t touch her. He didn’t have to, his silence alone felt like its own kind of touch.
She caught him watching her from the corner of her eye. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Stop staring,” she muttered under her breath.
Barry’s lips curved faintly, but he didn’t look away. “Why?”
“Because it’s… it’s rude,” she snapped softly, her cheeks warming.
He leaned slightly, his words brushing the shell of her ear. “Or because it makes you feel something you can’t name?”
Her breath hitched, and she turned her face away quickly. “You’re unbelievable.”
Barry chuckled low in his throat, the sound rich, mocking, but s
