After the man moved away from their table, gait sad, silence descended on the table.
Not the gentle kind, but the heavy kind that pressed against the chest and demanded to be acknowledged. It pooled between them, uncomfortable, every second dragging its weight across their nerves.
Silence that unnerved Gianna's already tinkering nerves, making them hum beneath her skin, making her spine stiffen even as she kept her posture composed, jaw tight, breath measured.
Aiden cleared his throat finally, breaking it, the sound rough and forced in the quiet, but there were no other words said so the silence continued, creeping back in almost immediately, heavier now, as if resentful of the interruption.
