42%\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Tristan was gone just like yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried not to read too much into it as I got dressed, pulling on jeans and a soft sweater that still smelled faintly of his cologne from when he\u2019d held me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked to the kitchen with a strange lightness in my step, already planning what I\u2019d cook for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe his favorite pancakes with fresh berries, or that omelet he always complimented me on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For once, I wasn\u2019t going to bring up family or siblings or any of the walls we\u2019d built between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last night had been my third time, and somehow it had left me wanting more. Not just the physical part, though that had been incredible, but more of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More of the way he looked at me like I was the only woman in the world. More of the way he whispered my name against my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew It was dangerous, of course I knew and that was why I shoved the thought off immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was cracking eggs into a bowl when I heard his bike roar to life outside. My hands stilled, confusion washing over me. Tristan never left this early on a Sunday. He had nowhere to go, no work obligations, no meetings that couldn\u2019t wt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Where was he going?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe he needed to pick something up from the store. He\u2019d be back soon. Tristar wouldn\u2019t just leave me alone, not when he\u2019d made such a big deal about\u00a0<\/p>\n
always protecting me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if I didn\u2019t need his protection, I\u2019d gotten used to having him around. His presence had become as natural as breathing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And part of me had started to trust that he wouldn\u2019t hurt me again like he had file years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t try it,\u2018 Claire said, her voice appearing in my head for the first time in days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d I snapped at her mentally. \u201cAren\u2019t you supposed to be with me always?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you were screaming Tristan\u2019s name last night, did you think about me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heat flooded my cheeks even though no one could see me. She was right, of course. I\u2019d been completely lost in him, in us, in the way he d made me feel\u00a0<\/p>\n
alive again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t blame you,\u2018 Claire continued. \u201cTristan is\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cut her off before she could finish. Claire had a way of planting ide\u00a0<\/p>\n
in my\u00a0<\/p>\n
he, making me want things I shouldn\u2019t want. Things that might be too much\u00a0<\/p>\n
to ask for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The food was ready twenty minutes later. I set two plates on the dining table and waited, checking my phone every few minutes for a text that never came. An hour passed, then two. The eggs grew cold, the toast turned stale, and still no sign of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, I ate alone, each bite tasting like disappointment. W\u00a0<\/p>\n
the trash with more force than\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201csary\u00a0<\/p>\n
fi to both plates back to the kitchen and scraped his untouched breakfast into\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
19:39 Tue, Jan 6 T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 99\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need to depend on anyone. I could be fine on my own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in my room, I grabbed my phone and dialed Drake\u2019s number. He picked up on the first ring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Hello?\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relief flooded through me at the sound of his familiar voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, Drake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSay what you want to say. I\u2019m busy, girl,\u201d he said in that hurried way that used to drive me crazy but now just made me smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I miss you. The words came out in a rush. \u201cI miss you so much, and I\u2019m sorry for cutting you off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a pause, and I could picture him stopping whatever he was doing to give me his full attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d he asked, his tone softer now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 99 42%\u00a0 When I stepped out of the bathroom, Tristan was gone […]<\/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-26256","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\/26256","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=26256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}