: Ryder
I noticed the shift between Mason and Zoe before either of them said a word about it. It was in the small things. The way she stood a little closer to him at the workbench now. The way his hand found the small of her back when they passed each other in the shop, easy and familiar in a way that hadn't been there a week ago. I told myself it didn't matter, that I had no claim on her, no right to feel the tight knot that settled in my chest every time I saw it.
I told myself a lot of things lately that weren't entirely true.
I'd built this club on discipline, on keeping personal weakness separate from responsibility, because my father taught me that presidents who let their feelings run the show ended up getting people killed. I believed that. I still believed it. But somewhere ove
