In Her Space

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CHAPTER 72

~Valerie's POV~

Wide-eyed. Pale. Like he'd just caught himself mid-fall and realised the ground was a lot closer than Erik had thought.

His mouth opened and closed once. Then again. "Val—Valerie."

I raised an eyebrow. "Practising for a drama audition I didn't know about?"

His cheeks flushed instantly, and he rubbed the back of his neck like it might help disappear into the floor. "I, uh… no. Just... walking. Thinking. Not rehearsing anything."

I pushed off the wall and took a few steps toward him. "Sounded like you were. You even had your own little monologue going."

He groaned softly and dropped his head back for a second. "You weren't supposed to hear any of that."

"Well, I did. Especially the part where I 'literally dragged you out of that mess.' Which, for the record, was a team effort."