It was just dinner. That's what I told myself over and over again. Just dinner between three friends.
Except it wasn't. Because Lila had curled her golden hair for the first time in weeks and asked me which lipstick shade made her lips more kissable. And because Elias hadn't even looked at her once.
He'd sat across from me, eyes fixed, jaw locked, fork untouched.
Every time I laughed at Lila's stories, he'd stare harder. Every time I shifted in my seat, I could feel the weight of his gaze move with me.
And Lila... God, she was smitten. I saw it in the way she leaned forward when he finally spoke. I saw it in her blush, in the way she touched her neck whenever he said her name. Except, he barely did.
He only spoke to me.
"You look tired," Elias said suddenly, cutting across Lila's sentence about a nurse who fainted in the ER.
I blinked. "I'm fine."
His eyes didn't believe me. His hand twitched on the tablecloth like he wanted to reach for me, but didn't.
Lila laughed nervously. "She never sleeps. Always checking patient files at 2am like some overachiever."
I smiled, but something twisted in me. I was trying. I was trying so hard to match them. Two beautiful white people, both smart, both charming. What was I doing here?
After dinner, Lila clutched my arm as we left the restaurant. "He's incredible. Thank you, Luna. For introducing me to him."
I froze.
She smiled wider, the kind of smile girls wore before dreams broke. "Do you think he likes me?"
I lied. "Yeah. I think he does."
But Elias had never looked away from me.