Chapter 115\u00a0<\/p>\n
32%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Im not walking you out, I called after him as he stepped into the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d he called back, loud enough that I was sure other tenants could hear him. \u201cI don\u2019t want anyone else eyeing my girlfriend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head with a smile, listening to his footsteps fade down the hallway, Derek had a way of making even ordinary moments feel lighter, more fun. It was a gift I envied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I cleaned up our glasses and put away the orange juice, my mind wander to the look on Rhys\u2019s face when Derek had claimed to be my boyfriend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way his smooth smile had wavered, like the mask had slipped for just a moment. I\u2019d caught a glimpse of something underneath that perfect\u00a0<\/p>\n
exterior, something that didn\u2019t match the charming neighbor act,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe Derek\u2019s instincts were better than mine. Maybe I was still too trusting too willing to give people the benefit of th\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went to my small kitchen and opened the mini freezer, pulling out the smoothie I\u2019d made that morning. I had a bit of an\u00a0<\/p>\n
made them fresh almost every day and usually had one in the morning and another in the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
sooothies \u2013 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I sipped the cold, sweet mixture of strawberries and banana, my thoughts drifted to Tristan. How was he doing? Was he eating properly, sleeping\u00a0<\/p>\n
enough, taking care of himself the way he always insisted everyone else should?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d looked exhausted when I\u2019d seen him at the office earlier, like he hadn\u2019t slept properly in days. There were dark circles under his eyes and a\u00a0<\/p>\n
tightness around his mouth that spoke of stress and worry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to tell myself that his wellbeing wasn\u2019t my concern anymore, that I\u2019d moved out and moved on and his problems weren\u2019t mine to solve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this was Tristan. Despite everything that had happened between us, despite the hurt and confusion and mixed signals, there had been times when\u00a0<\/p>\n
he\u2019d been there for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Real, important times when his presence had made the difference between surviving and falling apart completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just hoped he was okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sound from outside made me pause with the smoothie glass halfway to my lips. It sounded like a knock, but it was so soft I wasn\u2019t sure. I waited, listening carefully, but heard nothing else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Probably my imagination. The building was old and full of settling noises, creaking pipes, and neighbors moving around at odd hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I finished my smoothie and washed the glass, ready to head to my bedroom and call this incredible day complete. But as I turned off the kitchen light, I heard it again \u2013 a soft but definite knock at my front door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had Derek forgotten something? Maybe his keys or his wallet?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked to the door and stood there for a moment, listening. The knock came again, still soft but more insistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Who\u2019s there?\u201d I called, my voice coming out smaller and more nervous than d intended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAth. The voice was low, barely above a whisper, but I heard it clear as a bel\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew that voice. Even in my sleep, even in a crowded room full of people talking, I could pick out that particular tone. It belonged to someone who\u2019d been part of the soundtrack of my life for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
2032 Thu, Jan 8 \u2013 0 L\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 115\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u5473\u5ff532%\u670d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What was Tristan doing here at this hour? And why\u00a0<\/p>\n
did he sound like he was trying not to wake the whole building?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart started beating faster as I reached for the door handle, a dozen qutions racing through my mind. Was he okay? Had something happened?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why hadn\u2019t he called first?\u00a0<\/p>\n
And underneath all those practical concerns was a deeper question, one I wasn\u2019t sure I was ready to face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What did it mean that he was here, now, when we\u2019d been so carefully polite and distant for days?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 115 Chapter 115\u00a0 32%\u00a0 Im not walking you out, I called after […]<\/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-26272","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\/26272","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=26272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}