"I want to show you exactly where you're losing points," she said, moving around the desk. All business. All professionalism. "Come here."
Phei stood. Moved to meet her.
Close now. Close enough that when she laid the grade breakdown on the desk between them, he caught her scent—something floral, subtle, expensive. Layered underneath with something warmer. Something that was just her.
His senses drank it in without permission.
"Here," she said, pointing at the paper. "Lab participation. You've missed three entirely. That's thirty points you can't—" She lifted her eyes to meet his.
She stopped.
Phei had leaned in to look at where she was pointing. A normal movement. Reasonable. But it brought him closer—close enough that she could smell him now.
And whatever she smelled made her lose her train of thought.
"Ms. Bloom?"
"I—" She blinked. Refocused. "Thirty points. Lab participation. You need to..." She trailed off again.
"I need to?"
