Anna recovers faster than I do.
She crosses her arms, her entire stance shifting like she wasn’t just about to kiss me.Like she wasn’t just considering something dangerous.
“Yeah, I’m here,” she says, voice impressively steady.“What’s up?”
Ethan lifts a brow, glancing between us again, his gaze lingering just long enough to make my pulse spike before he shrugs it off.“Just a heads up—Mom’s gonna call you about Mina’s party bright and early tomorrow.She’s in fullKorean grandmother event planning mode, so brace yourself.Sounds like the party will be Saturday, so we need to get serious.”
Tessa laughs it off at the same time Anna groans, dragging a hand down her face.“Great.Can’t wait.”
Tessa shifts, leaning against the doorway, still looking at me like sheknows.
Like shefeelsthe shift in the air.
“So, how was the show?”Anna asks, voice overly nonchalant.
Too nonchalant.
She didn’t even call me a name or make a snide remark about it.
Tessa smirks.
Ethan, bless him, launches into the recap, and I use it as an excuse to take a step back.To shake off whatever the hellthat moment was because I knew I wanted to get her to admit she doesn’t hate me.
But I sure as shit wasn’t expecting to nearlykissher.
While Ethan talks about my performance like it’s the most important thing in the world, I walk back to my room and close the door.
Somehow, my show feels like a lifetime ago.Because all I can think about is the way Anna looked at me.
Like she wanted it—wantedme.And I would have given her everything if she had.
And fuck me, I don’t know what to do with that.
CHAPTER19
Anna
Iam never drinking wine again.
Okay, that’s a lie.I love wine.Wine and I have been througha lottogether.And the Dirty B’s would kill me.But after last night?I need a solid twenty-four hours of sobriety before I even look at my Merlot bottle again.
I groan into my pillow, but the betrayal of my own brain continues.Itreplaysthe scene like I’m watching my own downfall in slow motion.
The way he stepped closer.The heat in his eyes.Thegravitybetween us, pulling me in like I was caught in some stupid, reckless orbit.
And the worst part?The absoluteworstfucking part?
I almost kissed him.
Not the other way around.Me.I was the one who lost my goddamn mind.
I shove my face deeper into the pillow, willing myself to suffocate on sheer embarrassment alone.
It was thewine.Ithadto be.
Well, the wine and the fact that he walked inrightwhen I was reading the filthiest sword-crossing scene imaginable.It was the hottest thing I’ve read in a long time and I was seriously considering heading to my bedroom for some “alone time” before Joel got home.But no… It wasstrategic timing sabotageby the universe.
What are the odds?