Chapter 64\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan didn\u2019t respond to my kiss. He just sat there like a statue, completely frozen. That\u2019s when the reality of what I\u2019d done crashed over me like ice water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What am I doing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 jerked away from him as if his lips had burned me \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m so, so sorry. That was a mistake,\u201d I blurted out, already scrambling to my feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAth\u2026\u201d he started, but I didn\u2019t stick around to hear whatever he was going to say. I bolted up the stairs\u00a0<\/p>\n
like the house was on fire, taking the steps two at a time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shut my bedroom door behind me with more force than necessary and leaned my back against it,\u00a0<\/p>\n
sliding down until I was sitting on the floor. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode\u00a0<\/p>\n
right out of my chest. 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God! What did I just do? What have I done?\u201d I covered\u00a0<\/p>\n
believe what had just happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
y face with both hands, still unable to\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d kissed Tristan. On the lips. While he was telling me about losing his mate and unborn child. What\u00a0<\/p>\n
kind of person does that?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nice one, Athena. You just managed to make your relationship awkward again. And right after things were getting better between you two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard his footsteps in the hallway, getting closer to my room. I held my breath and pressed my back harder against the door. Trying to make myself as small as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Please don\u2019t let him knock. I don\u2019t know how I\u2019d face him right now. I might actually die from shame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because seriously, who kisses a man when he\u2019s telling you a story about his painful past? Only me. Only Athena could be that stupid and insensitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My name should be in the record books for the person who has embarrassed herself the most times in\u00a0<\/p>\n
one lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held my breath as I heard him stop right outside my door. He didn\u2019t knock though. He just stood\u00a0<\/p>\n
there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe he was thinking about whether he should knock or not. Maybe he was trying to figure out what\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:37 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 64\u00a0<\/p>\n
to say to the crazy girl who\u2019d just attacked his face with her lips,\u00a0<\/p>\n
After what felt like forever, I heard his footsteps going back down the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only then did I let out the breath I\u2019d been holding and smacked my forehead with my palm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStupid, stupid, stupid,\u201d I whispered to myself over and over,\u00a0<\/p>\n
After I was sure Tristan was gone \u2013 probably to his own room to figure out how to avoid me for the rest of eternity \u2013 I dragged myself up and walked to my bed like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The whole night was torture. I kept tossing and turning, my mind going over every single second of that kiss. How soft his lips had been. How he\u2019d smelled like soap and something\u2026. uniquely him. How he\u2019d gone completely still like I\u2019d shocked him with electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Couldn\u2019t help but imagine how awkward tomorrow was going to be. How was I going to face him? What if he sat me down and said, \u201cAthena, what happened yesterday can never happen again.\u201d I would probably dig a hole in the backyard and bury myself alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe I could fake being sick. Or better yet, maybe I could actually get sick from pure embarrassment and avoid this whole situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barely slept at all. And Claire wasn\u2019t helping matters, she\u2019d been silent for weeks but of course this was the night she decided to show up, right when I needed her least.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t stop going on and on about the kiss. About how amazing it felt when our lips touched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That kiss was amazing, she had said on my head. Did you feel how right it was? How complete we felt when our lips touched his?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo away,\u201d I\u2019d muttered into my pillow. \u201cYou\u2019re not helping.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
You should try seducing him, She had the nerve to suggest I should try seducing Tristan, like it was perfectly\u00a0<\/p>\n
normal advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bet if you showed up at his door in that red lingerie set\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, I was just as horrified as you probably are right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire!\u201d I said her name out loud. \u201cAre you insane?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:37 Sat, Jan 30\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 64\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m practical. We want him, he clearly wants us, so why are we playing these games?\u00a0<\/p>\n
10%\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he just finished telling me about his dead mate! The one he loves. Because I\u2019m supposed to be like a sister to him! Because this is completely wrong!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Says who? You\u2019re both adults. You\u2019re both single. You\u2019re both clearly attracted to each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head. Sometimes I wondered how Claire and I were supposed to be the same person. She had no filter and apparently no shame either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t entirely blame her. She\u2019d been through hell right alongside me, and she just wanted to find love and peace again. The problem was, the only kind of love and peace Tristan could offer was the brotherly kind, nothing more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I keep trying to tell her that, but does she listen? Of course not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time morning light started creeping through my windows, I looked like I\u2019d been hit by a truck. I stumbled to the bathroom mirror and winced at my reflection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dark circles had taken up permanent residence under my eyes. My skin was pale and blotchy. My hair stuck up in about twelve different directions. I looked like something that crawled out of a horror movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perfect. This was exactly how I wanted to face Tristan after last night\u2019s disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned on the shower as hot as I could stand it and stepped under the spray, letting the water run over my body from head to toe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe if I stayed in here long enough, I could wash away the memory of how his lips had felt under mine. Maybe the hot water could cleanse me of whatever temporary insanity had made me think kissing him was a good idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stayed in that shower until the water started running cold, After I finally got out, I put on clothes and decided I needed to go downstairs. I was thirsty and needed water before I could even think about\u00a0<\/p>\n
facing the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And maybe a large hole to crawl into.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I crept downstairs like I was sneaking through enemy territory, hoping against hope that Tristan was in his room. Maybe I could grab a quick drink and some toast and find my way to the garage myself, before\u00a0<\/p>\n
he comes out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:37 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 64\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was so focused on being quiet and avoiding him that I didn\u2019t notice him walk into the kitchen, until I\u00a0<\/p>\n
heard a sound next to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAhh!\u201d I jumped about three feet in the air, my heart practically leaping out of my throat, the water\u00a0<\/p>\n
bottle I\u2019d grabbed nearly dropping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 64 Chapter 64\u00a0 Tristan didn\u2019t respond to my kiss. He just sat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}