I stared at the message for a long time.
> Come see me. Alone. Tomorrow.
Or I'll come to you.
It wasn't even a question. No "hey," no "if you're free." Just… a quiet command, burning on my screen.
I swallowed hard, my chest tightening like I'd been caught in something invisible and suffocating. His words echoed in my head far louder than they should've. My first thought should have been confusion—or alarm—but all I could feel was… heat. Heavy, unwanted, curling low in my stomach like a secret.
What the hell did he mean?
Hadn't I done what he wanted? I'd brought Lila. I'd smiled through the awkward tension. I even tried to push her closer to him, like some twisted little cupid—but the way he looked at me all night…
It wasn't Lila he was undressing with his eyes.
It was me.
Still, I tried to lie to myself. Maybe he was being polite. Maybe I was overthinking it. Maybe… maybe he just needed to talk. About what, I wasn't sure—but I owed him. After what he did for me, after what Lila reminded me again and again—I owed him.
My hands trembled as I set my phone down on the kitchen counter. Lila's laugh echoed from the bathroom where she was washing up for bed. She looked… happy. Still glowing from dinner. Still believing Elias might be the one.
And I… I just felt sick.
What if I went tomorrow and destroyed everything?
What if Lila was exactly the type of woman a man like Elias wanted—white, soft, open, uncomplicated—and I was just… the girl who begged him for a second chance to save her best friend?
I pressed my palms to the edge of the counter and lowered my head, breathing deep.
Don't go.
But I already knew I would.
Not because I owed him.
Not even because I wanted to thank him.
But because I couldn't not go.
Because his voice was already under my skin. And I didn't know what scared me more—what he might do if I refused… or what I might let him do if I showed up.
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