33

LAYLA

MONDAY

23/60

Dreadful. No other words can express how I feel at this moment. If there were a stronger adjective than stagnant or rigid, I'd pick those, but my brain refuses to think now.

My skin is too hot to sense anything. My whole body is not mine anymore because Aiden Smith has taken control.

He kissed me.

His hands settled on my waist. They crawled there somehow.

I didn't kiss him back. I bar my eyes and take control.

The game master isn't playing me tonight.

As swiftly as he kissed me, I returned the gesture by pushing him off.

It's like a switch in my brain. It turned back on, and I was in the driver's seat again.

My skin feels like my own, my legs are twitching like they want to move, and I can think again.

My lips, however, were a different story.

"Layla."

"Don't."

I got them back. Although they're trembling, they're mine. And they don't kiss Aiden Smith.

"Layla."

"I said don't. Don't say it. Not a word, Aiden."

His breathing is strained. He is only a