Glow of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #2)

by Penn Cole

He let out a weary sigh. “I owe you an apology. For leaving the dinner, and for the things I said last night. For eavesdropping. For all of it.” Relief whooshed from my lungs as I felt the wall between us shatter. “I’m sorry, too. What I said—” “You have nothing to apologize for.” His jaw tightened. “You told me how you feel. I should have accepted it and let it go.” My instincts screamed at me to correct him, to explain that when I’d said he was nothing to me, I’d only meant we had no formal ties—no shared blood or years of friendship, no advisor roles or obligations. To confess that I couldn’t understand why he trusted me, cared for me, so much more than people he had known his whole life. And worse, that I felt exactly the same. And how much it scared me. But maybe this was for the best. Perhaps it was better if he thought there really was nothing between us.

Ugh, I know this is to further the plot and keep them as a slow burn, but A. He has nothing to apologize for and B. I hate the misunderstanding trope