LOGINAria was too stunned to speak.Her grip tightened on the phone as she slowly looked at the screen. Unknown number.But the voice—and nickname—was unmistakable. One she hadn’t heard in three years.“J…Jason?” She asked, voice shaky.A soft, familiar chuckle hummed through the line. “Took you long enough.”Her mouth went dry. “How did you… how are you calling me?”“I’m in New York,” he said, like that explained everything. “Thought I’d say hello. See how my favorite kitten is doing.”Her stomach turned. “You’re… in New York?”“Yes.” There was a smile in his voice. “And I want to see you.”She blinked, trying to make sense of it. “How did you even know I was here? We haven’t spoken since—”“Just because I haven’t spoken to you,” he cut in smoothly, “doesn’t mean you haven’t been on my radar.”A chill ran down her spine.“I’ve been thinking about you,” Jason went on like he was just having a conversation with someone he spoke to yesterday. “About us. About everything that happened. It’s b
Even though nothing in her New York apartment had changed, Aria knew something felt different.She noticed it in the way her keys sounded when she dropped them in the bowl by the door. In the way the hallway light felt too bright for a second. In the way her chest tightened—not with dread, exactly, but with an awareness she couldn’t quite name.“Babe?” Dexter called from the kitchen. “Is that you?”She toed off her shoes. “Yeah.”“What?” He appeared in the doorway, dish towel in one hand. “I told you I was going to pick you up.”“The flight was on time for once.”She chuckled, crossing the room into his arms. The hug was familiar, warm, and steady.“I missed you,” he said into her hair.She inhaled the smell of coffee and cheese. “I missed you too.”“So...” He pulled back to look at her properly. “How was it? The wedding? The girls?”“It was really good, actually,” she admitted. “We settled things that day. The wedding was beautiful. Lena looked amazing. Ethan cried like, three times.
Aria arrived at the cafe the next morning to find Tyler already there. He sat by the window, sunglasses on, eyes down as he scrolled absently through his phone.The moment she stepped inside, he glanced up… and her heart skipped a beat.Just closure, she reminded herself. Two old friends catching up. That’s all.She let out a shaky breath and walked over. ”Hey.”“Hey.” Tyler stood, and they did the awkward half-hug, half-handshake thing.
It was like time stood still.The rest of the world faded into a distant hum as Aria stared up at him.Upclose, he looked even more beautiful—the beard, the sharper angles, the calm in his green eyes.Tyler’s gaze swept over her face for a long second, like he was studying her in the same way she was too… then it dropped to her lips.Reality snapped back like a rubber band, and Aria jerked back slightly, flustered, as she clumsily stepped back out of his hold. “Sorry.”Tyler blinked, clearing his throat as if he’d just remembered where they were too. “No, I— It’s okay. I’m the one who… uh… intercepted you.”
The world didn’t collapse dramatically. There was no thunderclap, no sudden silence, no cinematic crash. It was worse than that.It was quiet. A quiet so sharp it felt like being cut open.Aria knew she had no right to feel this wrecked over the kiss… or his relationship. None.And yet she did.She heard Mia and Jade’s voices, but she knew she would fall apart right there in front of everyone if she opened her mouth.So she didn’t.Instead, she ran.Even as her eyes stung and her throat clenched too tightly that she couldn’t breathe, Aria didn’t stop… not until she reached the bathroom.She moved to the sink and gripped the edge with both hands, knuckles whitening, lips trembling as every emotion she’d been keeping since she got Lena’s email finally crashed down.The memories from the time they met at the campus kiosk to him leaving for London at the airport flashed all at once in her mind.She had destroyed their future because of one selfish choice. And here he was now… but as anoth
It started with the first crack. Then another… until all that was left were a million broken pieces of her heart.Arial quickly turned her head back toward the front, fixing her blurred vision on nothing in particular as the pain gnawed deeper into her chest.The garden lights seemed suddenly too bright. The music too soft. The laughter around her too distant to belong to the same world she was in.Of course, he had someone now.What was she expecting, really?That he had spent three years waiting in some frozen corner of his life, untouched by anyone else, still holding the shape of her in his hands? After everything?He didn’t deserve her. Didn’t deserve someone who broke his trust the way she did.That woman beside him fitted him perfectly. She belonged at his side… and in his world.“Aria?” Mia’s voice cut through the fog in her head, soft and careful.Aria’s throat felt locked, but she nodded. “It’s fine.”Jade’s eyes narrowed, but the tight look on Aria’s face told her she didn’t
Aria and Sofia stared at the three dots, holding their breath, until finally the message dropped.Jason: “If you walk into that suite in that, I’m going to have you on your knees before you can say my name, and you won’t walk straight out of there tomorrow.”Aria’s breath caught.Sofia choked. “Hol
Aria arrived home an hour after she left the café where she’d had lunch with Victoria. Immediately she stepped in, she was hit with the smell of spices and Lena’s cheap vanilla candle.“Lena?” she called, dropping her bag by the couch.“Yes!”“Oh, good! You will not believe who I just had lunch wit
“I don’t even know where to start,” Aria said.“Chronological,” Sofia said immediately. “Start from that night when he came for you.”
The next morning, Aria woke up overstimulated, unsure if it was a dream or a memory.Then the images came in a rush: Jason’s office, his hand between her thighs, his commanding voice, the way her body had clenched around his fingers when he’d told her to cum.Heat rolled through her, low and hot.S







