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Twenty Four

Author: Laura
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-09 18:38:05

Aria’s POV

“You know, it would be nice if I had my own office,” I said, barging into Marcel’s Office at Rooted—hell, my Office, technically.

He looked up from the stack of papers spread across his desk, the same ones he’d been going through all day our sales report. Probably trying to figure out how much money he could squeeze out of this place. Sucks for him…. I'm broke.

Last week we agreed to be civil for Hope’s sake. She was a total daddy’s girl now by the way . After practice, she refused to follow me home

To make things worse, my car wouldn't start so Marcel had to drive us and Hope insisted on riding shotgun while I sat in the back. Marcel opted to carry her while driving , and when I reminded them both about safety, they called me boring.

“You already have an office,” he said, his lips curving into that smug grin.

“Where?” I asked, scanning the room, already suspicious.

“Come here for a second.”

I gave him a look, knowing full well he was up to something, but I still walke
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  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Fifty One

    AriaMoving on turned out to be less dramatic than I’d expected—there were no sweeping orchestral swells, no cinematic montage of self-discovery.There was no grand, singular moment where I woke up miraculously healed or suddenly indifferent to the memory of his touch. No burst of cinematic clarity that made the path ahead sparkle. Instead, it was a quiet, grueling decision I made every single morning when my alarm went off—a mental grit that forced me to get up, get dressed, and keep going before my heart had a chance to argue.So I did. I chose the routine until the routine became my reality.I threw myself into my studies first. Hard. I reclaimed my spot in the front rows, sitting rigid and attentive, taking notes with a frantic precision as if the ink could tether me to the present. I took notes like they mattered—because they did; they were the only currency I had left. I stopped letting my thoughts wander to dark gyms and matte-black signs, pulling my focus back every time it d

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Fifty

    AriaHe caught my arm and guided me out of the ring, his grip firm as he led me to the floor, releasing me only once we were a safe, cold distance apart. I turned to face him, my face burning with a mixture of exertion and shame.“I—”He cut me off with a look that was as sharp as a blade.“This is exactly why I don’t mix this with training,” he said bluntly, his chest heaving as he fought to regain his composure.My stomach twisted, embarrassment warring with a spark of something far more dangerous—a need to be seen.“Mix what?” I asked, though the answer was written in the way we were both trembling. "I don't think I did anything wrong. Also, why're you looking at me like that!" I said suddenly brave because I realized... I didn't do anything wrong."He stepped closer again, slower this time, deliberate as a hunter.“Don’t pretend you don’t feel it,” he said quietly, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. “I do. It's vibrating off you in waves.”My heart slammed against my ribs li

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Nine

    AriaThe gym was just beyond the edges of campus, tucked behind a row of glass-fronted offices and manicured hedges that made it look more like a private club than a training facility. I almost turned around twice.The first time was when I parked and saw the matte-black sign with no name—just a symbol etched into metal like it didn’t need to explain itself to anyone who didn't already know why they were there. The second time was when I stepped inside.I didn’t belong here.That thought echoed through me, a hollow vibration in my chest as I scanned the space. The gym was quiet but not empty. A few people trained in silence, their movements focused and intense; they were the kind of people who looked like they knew exactly what they were capable of and didn't feel the need to prove it.And then I saw him.Marcel was in the ring.His shirt was off, discarded somewhere I couldn’t see, his skin slick with a sheen of sweat that caught the harsh overhead lights every time he rotated his

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Eight

    AriaI shouldn’t have looked back.But the air felt heavy and strangely pulled, like a physical weight had shifted in the room.It was like something invisible had tugged at my attention with a quiet, magnetic insistence that refused to be ignored or pushed aside.I darted my eyes toward the back row, my breath catching in my throat before I even found what I was looking for.Marcel was already watching me.He wasn't staring with the wide-eyed intensity of a stranger; it was more subtle than that.He was just... aware—sitting there with a calm, predatory patience, looking like he’d never stopped knowing exactly where I was in the room.His posture was relaxed and entirely too comfortable for a lecture hall, with one arm draped over the back of the seat beside him and his long legs stretched out into the aisle.He made the cramped, wooden furniture look like a minor inconvenience rather than a limitation to his frame.When our eyes met, he didn’t smile or offer a friendly greeting.He

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Seven

    Aria's POVI was already ten minutes into regretting my life choices when Taylor leaned over and whispered, “If I fail this class, I’m suing the university for emotional damage.”I snorted, elbowing her lightly. “You say that every semester.”“And yet I remain traumatized,” she replied, scribbling something that looked more like a cry for help than notes. She began aggressively shading in the margins of her notebook, her pen scratching against the paper in a frantic rhythm that matched the restless energy of the room.The lecture hall was half-full, the kind of class where attendance technically mattered but no one really listened. The professor droned on about cognitive behavioral frameworks, his voice steady, monotonous, almost soothing if you weren’t actively trying to stay awake. It was a thick, syrupy sound that seemed to coat the room in a layer of boredom, making the air feel stale and heavy with the smell of cheap coffee and old wood.I was trying.Barely.My mind kept drif

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Six

    Marcel's POV The kiss wasn’t gentle.It was sudden, hungry, like something I’d been holding back finally snapped loose. My hand cupped the back of her neck, thumb brushing the soft skin just below her ear, and she froze for half a heartbeat before her lips parted under mine. A small sound escaped her, surprise, maybe relief, and then she was kissing me back, tentative at first, like she was testing whether this was real.Her hands came up to my chest, fingers curling into my shirt, not pushing away but not quite pulling closer either. Reserved. Careful. I felt it in her, the hesitation, the way she held herself back even as her body leaned in. I slowed, gentled the kiss, giving her room to breathe, to decide, knowing that I sprung this up on her. When I pulled back just enough to look at her, her eyes were wide, lips swollen, cheeks flushed in a way that made my chest tighten.“I’m sorry,” I said, voice rougher than I meant it to be. My forehead rested against hers for a secon

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