Page 38 of Holiday Interference

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“We should stop,” she whispers.

I still. My pulse howls in my ears.

She doesn’t look away. Doesn’t move.

“Not because I want to,” she says, softer now. “But because nothing good can come from this.”

And fuck, thatlands.

I nod. Just once.

My hands are still on her hips.

I don’t let go.

Not yet.

Because this is probably the only time I’ll get to touch her, and I’m just not ready to watch her go.

CHAPTER TEN

Noelle

The counter iscold against my back, but my skin burns anyway.

I can still taste him.

Not in a way that’s soft or sweet, but in the way heat lingers after a spark catches. My lips are swollen, my pulse a fist in my throat, and I swear the air between us still crackles like static.

Cal steps back first.

Not far. Just enough.

And the loss hits harder than it should. The warmth he leaves behind cools too fast, the space between us widening by inches that feel like miles.

For a beat, neither of us moves.

The kitchen hums quietly around us—low buzz of the fridge, faint tick of the heat vent. It should be peaceful, normal.

But it’s not.

It’scharged.

I press my palms against the counter behind me to keep from reaching for him again. My breath still comes shallow, uneven. My heart hasn’t decided whether it’s terrified or alive.

He’s watching me. I can feel it.

That still, assessing gaze that sees too much. The kind that doesn’t chase but waits for me to bolt or come closer.

I hate that I can’t tell which one I want to do.

“Water,” I murmur, more to fill the silence than anything else. My voice sounds strange—rough-edged and thinner than I want it to.

He doesn’t answer, doesn’t move to help. Just watches.

I reach past him, close enough that my sleeve brushes his arm, and grab the glass from the sink. My fingers tremble, but I do my best to ignore it.

The faucet roars to life, the rush of it filling the silence, though it doesn’t cut through the tension.

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