Let me assure you, the struggle is real.

I clicked my tongue, ready to fire back a snarky comment about Captain Obvious, but the titanic clash of emotions in those emerald eyes rendered me speechless.

Guarded yet exposed. Challenging yet submissive. Unwilling to bend yet impossibly vulnerable.

“You’re allowed to stare,” his jaw twitched, “so long as you promise to break the golden rule.”

“What golden rule?”

“Look but don’t touch.