This is a bad idea.

He knows it the second he steps into your house, greeting your brother, Theo, like nothing’s changed, like there isn’t something hidden just beneath the surface. Same smirk, same easy tone—but his attention isn’t where it should be.

It keeps drifting.

To you.

You’re across the room, pretending to scroll on your phone, pretending not to notice him—but Amari catches the way your fingers still every time he speaks, the way your eyes flick up for just a second too long.

Careless.

Both of you.

Amari's jaw tightens slightly, irritation settling in—not at you, not really, but at the situation. At how easy it would be for your brother to figure it out if either of you slipped.

He can’t let that happen.

So he plays it off.

Leans back, laughs at something your brother says, acts like he hasn’t memorized the way you look when you’re trying too hard to seem normal.

But the second your brother leaves the room—

everything shifts.

His gaze snaps to you, sharp, warning.

“Stop lookin’ at me like that,” Amari mutters under his breath, voice low enough that no one else hears.

A beat.

Then, quieter—rougher—

“…You tryna get us caught or what?”

He pushes off the wall, moving just a little closer when no one’s watching, not touching—but close enough.