TER

WER STA

L

er quietly, as if

things that should never have shared the same space. I stood th

didn'

mirror in the car. I could still feel the exact moment his thumb had brushed the corner of my mouth outside the ic

er under the soft bedroom light. The napkin was slightly crumpled from how tightly

try somethin

it until my

gh to make me stumble on the bottom step. The sharp flare of pain in my knee. Vivienne's quiet laugh. The way both of them had looked

you're going,

down, it didn't real

ont of me and the fact that I had brought thi

ing off my f

placed the pink spoon exactly where the ring had been sitting. Then I pushed the diamond band all

just stood there, looking at the spoon

ng. Outside, the wind moved through the trees along the edge of the estate. My knee still ached faintly from Clara's pus

to force my breathing to sl

the door was open and Ad

ent. He just stepped inside and shut the door behind him with a soft, fi

us spoke, then, his eyes went

isfied moved across his face, slow and unmistakable. It was the look of a man who h

His voice was low, qui

essing table stopped me. T

t the wood beside the open drawer. The other came up and slid unde

. He didn't comment on it. He just held me there, studying my face like

like that? No 'Aunty'? Am I not

would have ended this before it even started. The contract, the girls, victor, the way Clara had shoved me like

I di

he ice-cream shop still on his clothes, mixed with whatever cologne he wore. It made thinking difficult.

mistake," I

ut he didn'

braced beside the drawer, caging me in without quite touching anywhere else. The heat of his body reached me thro

wn breathing and

e silence stretched until it felt dangerous. Until it

d me against the

as happening and was simply waiting for my body to catch up. My back hit the wall. The edge of the dr

ss dee

the faint sweetness of vanilla still on his tongue. My fingers, which had been hanging uselessly a

pulled h

o me. My knee throbbed dully where it had hit the step earlier, but the pain was distant now. Ever

ay. I should have reminded him tha

hirt and kissed him back