The door handle stops rattling.
A voice in the hallway. Male. Muffled through the door.
"Locked. Must be empty."
Footsteps receding.
We both exhale.
Ethan pulls away from me. Steps back. Putting distance between us.
"That was too close," he says.
"But they didn't come in—"
"They could have. If the door had been unlocked. If they'd had a master key. If they'd been persistent."
"But they weren't."
"This time. But next time we might not be lucky."
I slide off his desk. Try to read his expression in the dim emergency lighting.
"Ethan—"
"This was a mistake. Asking you here. Kissing you. All of it."
"Don't do this."
"Do what?"
"Pull away. Again. Every time we get close, you panic and push me away."
"Because every time we get close, we risk getting caught. And that risk isn't worth—"
"Isn't worth what? Us? This?"
"Isn't worth destroying both our futures for something that can't work."
"Stop saying it can't work—"
