LOGINKAYLAI spent the entire morning telling myself I was ready. I was not ready.But that was tomorrow's problem. Tonight, I just had to survive getting home.The cab ride back from the café felt longer than it should have. I kept my eyes on the window and watched the city blur past, buildings and streetlights and strangers living completely unbothered lives, and I envied every single one of them.By the time I got to my floor, I had almost convinced myself I was fine.Then Mrs. Cassia's door swung open."Kayla!"I stopped walking. "Hi, Mrs. Cassia."She was already in the hallway, arms open, slippers on, reading glasses pushed up on her forehead. She pulled me into a hug before I could prepare for it. She smelled like shea butter and rice and everything warm, and some stupid part of me nearly teared up."You're back," she said, holding me at arm's length to look at me properly. "You look thin.""I'm not thin.""You're thin. Come, let me give you something.""I just ate…""You ate café f
KAYLAI woke up exhausted. Not physically… morally. The second my eyes opened, last night came crashing back .The kiss. The panic. The look on Darius's face before he left.I groaned and immediately buried my face in my pillow. "Nope."Unfortunately, my brain wasn't interested in cooperating. Every embarrassing second replayed itself anyway.I kissed him. The realization hit me all over again.Not only had I kissed him. I had kissed my best friend's boyfriend.I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. "Okay." I pointed at the ceiling. "We are not doing this today."No flirting, staring, thinking about him, or replaying the kiss.Last night was a mistake. A massive, catastrophic mistake, and from this moment forward, I was going to act like a mature adult with functioning self-control.My phone suddenly rang. I reached for it, and the screen lit up.Zara was Calling.I closed my eyes. "Of course."I considered pretending to be dead. Instead, I answered. "Hello?""Good morning,
KAYLAI didn’t even know what I was thinking anymore. That was the terrifying part.It felt like my brain had completely disconnected from the rest of my body. Like every logical thought inside my head was screaming that this was wrong while the rest of me stood there melting anyway.Zara was my best friend. His girlfriend.Every single fact was still there in my head, clear as day, and somehow none of it was enough to stop whatever this was.I opened my mouth to speak. To tell him to leave. To finally say it properly this time.“I…” The word came out uneven. “You should…”But the sentence died completely when Darius suddenly pulled me closer again.A soft gasp escaped me as my body pressed fully against his this time.His hand slid slowly up my back, firm and warm through the fabric of my dress, and every tiny movement sent another wave of heat through me.God.Every single hair on my body rose instantly.He noticed that too. Of course he did.His head dipped slightly, his eyes fixed
KAYLAI was unsettled.Completely. Deeply. Irritatingly unsettled.The moment Zara said she was sending Darius back, my entire body had reacted before my brain even caught up. My pulse had jumped. My stomach had tightened. And the worst part is I hadn't recovered from the way his hand had felt on me earlier.That stupid squeeze had burned itself directly into my brain.I exhaled sharply and hurried upstairs again, clutching the folder against my chest.“Nope,” I muttered under my breath. “Absolutely not.”If he was coming over here acting stupid, then I was at least going to make sure I looked as unappealing to him as possible.I went straight to my suitcase and yanked out the longest dress I owned. It covered me from collarbone to ankle like I was preparing for winter in another century.Perfect.I changed quickly, then stared at myself in the mirror afterward. There was nothing visible, tempting and nothing for him to look at.And somehow that realization annoyed me too.I brushed m
KAYLABy the time the food was gone and the tea had been refilled twice, something in me had unclenched properly for the first time since the plane landed.This… Zara talking with her whole body, both hands moving, nearly knocking her mug off the counter twice. Her laugh filling every corner of the room. I'd missed her in a way I hadn't let myself fully feel until right now.Darius had been quiet for most of it, he laughed when something was actually funny. Asked exactly two questions, both of them good ones. Refilled my mug once without being asked and I told myself that meant nothing and I almost believed it."Okay." Zara stood up suddenly. She stretched both arms above her head and groaned. "We have to go.""Already?""It is… " She checked her phone and made a face. "Kayla. It's almost midnight.""It is not.""It genuinely is and you just got off a long flight and I have a seven AM and if I don't leave right now I'm going to keep you up until three talking about nothing and you're
KAYLASomehow… I found my voice."Darius." I whispered. "What are you…”His fingers pressed gently against my lips lightly, and every word I'd been about to say dissolved completely. His eyes stayed on mine the whole time… and then he dropped his hand slowly. And then, before I could pull together a single thought, his fingers ran up my arm… the back of his knuckles dragging from my wrist to my shoulder like he was just… exploring. Like he had all the time in the world and intended to use every second of it.My heart skipped… and he noticed. Of course he noticed.His hand changed direction, drifting down now, and I knew I should say something, should do something, but my mouth had completely stopped cooperating and my legs were barely functioning and when he placed his warm palm against the outside of my thigh I made a quiet sound.The corner of his mouth shifted. "Still fine?" he asked.I hated him. I genuinely, deeply, passionately hated him for how unbothered he sounded right now.
LUCIA I couldn’t sleep. Every movement I made sent shivers through me, every brush of the sheets against my thighs reminding me of what had happened in the classroom. The memory of his touch, of that teasing, skillful finger, burned in my mind. My panties were damp again, my body aching in ways I
LUCIAI sat frozen in my seat, still trembling, still feeling the echo of his fingers inside me. My chest heaved, my pulse pounded so loud it drowned out the hum of the plane’s engines.He leaned back, as if nothing had happened, his hand now resting on the armrest. I stared at him, waiting for him
LUCIAThe time dragged on, and Alex kept teaching. I tried to focus. I really did, but my chest rose and fell too quickly, my stomach knotted painfully.I realized with a shiver that the fire inside me wasn’t going out… it was only growing, and patience was no longer possible.I shifted in my chair
The screech of the wheels against the runway jolted me back into myself. My heart still pounded from everything that had happened in that bathroom. Since slipping back into my seat, I hadn’t dared look at him. Not once. My eyes stayed glued to the window, pretending to be fascinated by the shrinkin







