Ishould be feeling smug.
Anna was flustered.Reallyflustered.
And that’s becoming something I enjoy more than anything.I love seeing her unravel.
She always has control.Always.
She’s built from fire and sharp edges—a master at throwing up walls the second anyone gets too close.She cuts with words before anyone else can.She’s made an art of keeping herself untouchable.
But tonight?
She slipped.
And I saw it happen.
Ifeltit.
The small, barely-there hitch in her breath.The way her chest rose sharply before she forced it down, like her body had betrayed her first and her brain was scrambling to cover it up.I can relate to that.
The way color bloomed along her cheekbones, so faint it might’ve gone unnoticed if I hadn’t been watching for it.
And Iwaswatching.
I was waiting.
Waiting for the inhale, the hesitation, the second it took her to shut it all down.
I meant to catch every single tell.
However, what I didn’t mean was for it to hit me just as hard.
I can still feel it—her.
I let out a slow breath, rolling onto my side, my body still buzzing like I just stepped offstage.
But this isn’t stage adrenaline.This is something else.
Something tangled and restless, coiling under my skin.
I scrub a hand down my face, but it doesn’t erase the memory of the way her hair slipped through my fingers, the way she froze under my touch.The way she swallowed hard, forcing down whatever emotions were coming up.
And that’s what’s messing me up the most.All this time I thought she hated me—plain and simple.
Never in a million years did I think she might still feel something else.Something I tried to kill when we were teens.
That’s not my ego talking.It’s not wishful thinking or some bullshit fantasy.
It happened.
And now I don’t know what the hell to do with that or why it was so important to test it.
I shouldn’t be thinking about any of this—but I am.
And it’s not stopping.
I close my eyes, willing the feeling away, but it’s already under my skin.It’s still running through me, a live wire, sizzling along my nerves, making it impossible to sit still.
I roll onto my back, rubbing my hands over my face.