Chapter 107\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
F100\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena, I think he likes you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. There was no need to ask for details. We all knew exactly who Leah was talking about. The pretty boy with his perfect smile and his homemade cookies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 raised an eyebrow, trying to look casual while my insides twisted into knots. He liked her. After knowing her for all of five minutes,\u00a0<\/p>\n
this stranger had decided he was interested in my\u2026..\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Athena. Not my anything. Just Athena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s beautiful. I\u2019m not surprised, my wolf said unhelpfully in the back of my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thanks for that. Really what I needed to hear right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d Orion asked, his eyebrow raised and his tone sharp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt a surge of gratitude toward him. At least one of us was sensible enough to be suspicious of some random guy showing up with\u00a0<\/p>\n
baked goods and movie\u2013star looks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though it shouldn\u2019t matter to me what Athena did or didn\u2019t do, at least Orion would keep her safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t mind Leah,\u201d Athena said quickly, and I felt some of the tension in my shoulders ease. \u201cI\u2019m sure she\u2019s just messing with you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She doesn\u2019t like him. The relief that flooded through me was so intense I had to take a careful breath to keep it from showing on my\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, don\u2019t mind me?\u201d Leah protested with a grin that made me want to strangle her. \u201cYou\u2019re single, so if he asks you out, would you really say no?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like my head was going to explode. This was exactly why I\u2019d regretted pushing Orion to get Athena an assistant, Leah was doing more harm than good, stirring up trouble where none needed to exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My blood was actually boiling, heat rising up my neck as I waited for Athena\u2019s response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shrugged, not looking at any of us. \u201cLike you said, I\u2019m single. I can\u2019t just automatically say no. I\u2019d have to think about it first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes snapped to her face so fast I probably almost shifted my eyes socket. She wasn\u2019t looking at me, but I was one hundred percent sure she could feel the weight of my stare burning into the side of her head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
8:48 Wed, Jan 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 107\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the moment. This was when Orion needed to step in and be the overprotective brother, tell her she needed to be careful,\u00a0<\/p>\n
remind her that she barely knew this guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
100\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d he said, and for a split second I thought he was going to say something reasonable,\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I need you to be careful when you decide to give yourself another chance at love. I want you to find someone who\u2019ll love you and\u00a0<\/p>\n
choose you first.\u201c\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words felt like a knife sliding between my ribs, twisting as they sank in. Each one was aimed directly at me, a reminder of every\u00a0<\/p>\n
way I\u2019d failed her over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d always hurt her. Always pushed her away when she was at her most vulnerable. Always chosen something else, someone else, over\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew Orion was right. I knew I wasn\u2019t the kind of man Athena deserved, wasn\u2019t the kind of man I\u2019d want for her if I could think\u00a0<\/p>\n
objectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was someone who still held onto his dead mate\u2019s memory like a lifeline, someone who would probably always end up hurting her in\u00a0<\/p>\n
the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew all of that. So why did hearing it out loud feel like someone was ripping my heart out of my chest with their bare hands?\u00a0<\/p>\n
We spent the rest of the afternoon helping her arrange furniture and unpack boxes, all of us carefully avoiding any mention of the handsome neighbor. But he hung over everything like a shadow, this threat I couldn\u2019t fight because I had no right to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When it came time to leave, I assumed Athena would come home with me like she had every night for the past month. It was automatic, natural, the way we\u2019d fallen into this routine of sharing space and meals and quiet conversations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she didn\u2019t move toward my bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think I\u2019m going to stay here tonight,\u201d she said, not quite meeting my eyes. \u201cStart getting used to the place, you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like the ground had opened up beneath my feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d I asked, hating how desperate I sounded. \u201cIt\u2019s your first night. What if something goes wrong? What if you need something?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be fine, Tristan. It\u2019s just one night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
8:48 Wed, Jan 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 107 Chapter 107\u00a0 Tristan\u2019s POV\u00a0 F100\u00a0 Athena, I think he likes you.\u201d\u00a0 […]<\/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-26264","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\/26264","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=26264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}