Chapter 130\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sight before me broke my heart in ways I didn\u2019t know were possible, Tristan was staring at me like I had just shattered his entire world, like everything he thought he knew about me had been a lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes never left mine, boring into me with an intensity that made my che tight. I forced myself to break eye contact, looking anywhere but at his\u00a0<\/p>\n
face because the pain there was too much to bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t understand why he was staring at me like someone who caught his wife cheating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took slow, deliberate steps toward me, but I didn\u2019t move away. Despite everything that had happened between us, despite th carried, I knew with absolute certainty that Tristan would never physically hurt me. That wasn\u2019t who he was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek tried to step in front of me, positioning himself as a protective barrier between Tristan and me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
and hurt!\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I moved in front of Derek instead, because I could see the dangerous look in Tristan\u2019s eyes as he stared at Derek, like he wanted to actually murder\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew that look because I\u2019d seen it before, when other men got too close to my personal space or when he suspected someone had hurt me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the same look he gave Daxon the day he was caught.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan was barely holding onto his control, and if Derek kept trying to shield me, he might actually forget they were friends or that we were in public\u00a0<\/p>\n
and do something stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t let them start a fight here, not with all these people watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I walked toward Tristan, my legs feeling unsteady beneath me. Derek immediately grabbed my arms, turning me to face him with concern written all\u00a0<\/p>\n
over his features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I managed to smile at him, though it felt forced and fake. \u201cI need to talk to my brother. We\u2019ll see each other\u00a0<\/p>\n
tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek studied my face like he was trying to read my thoughts, then nodded slowly. He pulled me into his usual post\u2013race hug, and I let him hold me for a moment, drawing strength from his solid presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSee you tomorrow then,\u201d he said quietly, his voice carrying a note of worry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded and turned to walk away with Tristan, leaving Derek standing there watching us go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan hadn\u2019t said a single word since he\u2019d called my name. It was like he\u2019d lost his voice entirely, or maybe was more unnerving than any lecture would have been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
the\u00a0<\/p>\n
strength to form sentences. His silence\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we reached his motorcycle, he wordlessly handed me the spare helmet took it without argument, understanding that this wasn\u2019t the time or place for a confrontation. He climbed onto the bike and waited for me to do the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I got on slowly, settling behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist like I\u2019d done\u00a0<\/p>\n
SO\u00a0<\/p>\n
many times\u00a0<\/p>\n
before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew he was angry about discovering my racing career, probably blaming himself for bringing me to th\u00a0<\/p>\n
him quietly, without making a fuss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
track in the first place. That\u2019s why I followed\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted us to get somewhere private where we could have this conversation properly. I couldn\u2019t run from it anymore, and honestly, I didn\u2019t want to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hopter 130\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ride to my opartment was tense and silent. I could feel the rigid set of ho was struggling to contain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
shoulders, the way has meracies were coiled tight with whurterer emotions\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we arrived, I quietly opened my apartment door and waited for Tristano step inside. I closed the door behind us and then stood there, waiting for him to break the silence that had stretched between us since the racing cente\u00a0<\/p>\n
He raised his eyebrows in confusion when 1 remained standing by the door, not moving farther into my apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aren\u2019t you going to invite me in properly?\u201d he asked, his voice hoarse like he hadn\u2019t used it in hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 130 Chapter 130\u00a0 Athena POV\u00a0 The sight before me broke my heart […]<\/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-26287","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\/26287","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=26287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}