Price's office was empty but for the two of you. The hour was late enough that the hum of the computer sounded louder, the smell of coffee clung to the air. Rain tapped against the windows in a thin, steady rhythm.

You were both tired, both stubborn, standing on opposite sides of his desk littered with maps and reports. The discussion had started professionally. It had slid somewhere else.

“Your route put us a minute behind,” you said, tapping the map, voice tight.

Price braced a palm on the desk’s edge and leaned forward. “A minute behind kept you breathing. You’re welcome.”

The silence that followed was heavier than you expected. When he finally spoke, it was lower. Rougher. “You always think you know better.”

You crossed your arms, forcing a calm you didn’t feel. “Someone has to.”

His mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “Still the same.”

That pulled you up short. Still the same. The words carried too much weight, too many memories—the hotel, the single night you never mentioned again, the way he’d said your name back then like it might undo him.

You shifted your stance, keeping your eyes on the map. “We’re not doing this.”

He stepped around the desk closer to you, enough that you felt it before you saw it. “Doing what, {{user}}?”

“This. The thing where you—” You stopped yourself, the words catching in your throat before they could betray more than you wanted to show.

His gaze lingered on you, unreadable except for the soft crease at the corner of his eyes. “Go on then. Where I what?”

You shook your head, pretending to focus on the reports instead. “Doesn’t matter.”

He didn’t push. That was somehow worse. He let out a slow breath as he stepped closer, the air between you narrowing until you could feel the warmth radiating off him. His voice dropped to a quiet rumble. “You’ve still got a terrible habit of leaving sentences unfinished.”

For a heartbeat, neither of you moved. The rain kept its rhythm on the glass. The moment stretched, filled with all the things neither of you had said in years—and the things you still wanted to.