Cassie held Franklin's gaze, her fingers curling slightly at her sides as though grounding herself. The truth pressed against her chest, heavy and insistent, and for a moment she considered swallowing it back.
But the desperation in his eyes, raw, unguarded, made retreat impossible. She drew in a slow breath.
"I feel something for you," she admitted quietly, her voice softer than she intended. "But I honestly don't know what it is."
Franklin didn't answer right away. He already knew. It was the same unnameable pull that had struck him the first time he saw her, the same quiet gravity that refused to loosen its hold no matter how much logic he applied to it.
He studied her face, the hesitation in her eyes, the honesty she was offering without armor.
"Then," he said carefull
