Chapter 133\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f66771)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan Hayes, I said through gritted teeth. \u201cIf you dare try that thing you\u2019re about to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard him giggle playfully, the sound so carefree and boyish that it caught me completely off guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll never do anything unless you ask me to. I was just practicing,\u201d he said with that mischievous grin that used to make my heart skip beats when we\u00a0<\/p>\n
were teenagers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed him away, not knowing whether I should be angry or amused by his behavior. \u201cYou\u2019re not a child, Tristan. Grow up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I started walking away from him, needing space to think clearly, but he caught my arm and pulled me back against his chest. The contact sent electricity shooting through my entire body, and I hated how my treacherous heart responded to his touch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t care, Ath. I don\u2019t mind being a child for the rest of my life, as long as you get to love me,\u201d he said, his voice soft and sincere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at him with what I hoped was an annoyed expression, though I wasn\u2019t sure I was pulling it off convincingly. \u201cIt\u2019s not that easy, Tristan. You can\u2019t just walk in here and tell me you love me and expect me to jump into your arms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, and that\u2019s exactly why I said I\u2019ll make sure I win your heart properly. I don\u2019t want you to go easy on me. Tell me you love me only when I\u2019ve\u00a0<\/p>\n
truly earned it, Ath.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words should have made me happy. This was everything I\u2019d dreamed of hearing for years. But instead of joy, I felt something else entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t love you,\u201d I said, throwing his exact words back at him. \u201cI only see you as a brother, as Orion\u2019s best friend, and that\u2019s all we can ever be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched him wince as I repeated the painful words he\u2019d said to me so many times over the years. Part of me felt satisfied seeing him experience that\u00a0<\/p>\n
same sting of rejection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I was such an terrible person who doesn\u2019t deserve your love and forgiveness. I know that, and I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to tell him it was okay, that we should start over fresh, this time not as siblings but as something more. The words were right there on my tongue, begging to be spoken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he\u2019d asked me not to go easy on him, and I definitely wouldn\u2019t. Let\u2019s see if he\u2019d get tired and give up, or change his mind tomorrow like he had so many times before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s okay, I\u2019ve forgiven you, but I have someone else now,\u201d I said, testing his resolve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Til steal you away from him. I know Derek is my friend, but let\u2019s be realistic here. He has nothing on me,\u201d Tristan replied with a confidence that was both infuriating and attractive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you really do that?\u201d I asked, raising my eyebrows. \u201cWould you actually take your friend\u2019s girlfriend?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I need you to understand this, Ath. Ile said with a serious look and tone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re mine. You\u2019ve always been mine. I was just too stupid and slow to realize it. So I\u2019m not taking his girl. I\u2019m taking my girl. My\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
D\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:18 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 133\u00a0<\/p>\n
$71\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised my hand to stop him because I knew exactly what he was about to say, and I wasn\u2019t sure I was ready to hear him call me that word. Not yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He walked toward me and took my hands, placing them flat against his chest. His heart was pounding so hard I could feel it through his shirt, and there was something else there too. Something wild and excited that could only be his wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you feel it?\u2018 he asked softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, I could feel everything. His racing heartbeat, his wolf practically vibrating with excitement, the warmth of his skin through the thin fabric of his\u00a0<\/p>\n
shirt. But I wasn\u2019t ready to admit that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFeel what?\u201d I asked instead, playing dumb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLiar,\u201d I heard him say, but his lips hadn\u2019t moved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shot my eyes up to meet his, confused. \u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t say that out loud,\u201d he replied with a knowing smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSay what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Liar.\u2018 I didn\u2019t speak it, but you heard it clearly, didn\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, I had heard it, loud and clear, like he was speaking directly inside my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Loud and clear,\u2018 he repeated, mimicking my thoughts with that same smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re invading my privacy, Tristan,\u201d I complained, though secretly the thought of communicating with just him through our minds felt thrilling in a way I didn\u2019t want to examine too closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you hear all my thoughts?\u201d I asked, suddenly worried about what else he might be picking up from my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shook his head. \u201cNot all of them. Only the ones meant for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you saying that if I think something directed at you, you\u2019ll hear it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s how the mate bond works, Ath. But ours is different, and it\u2019s terrifying at the same time. I still can\u2019t figure out why, but I will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to ask why it terrified him, but before I could, a yawn escaped me. The emotional exhaustion of the evening was finally catching up with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to leave. I\u2019m tired. We can talk about all of this later. Right now, I just want to sleep,\u201d I said, rubbing my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded understanding and leaned down to kiss the top of my head before walking toward the door. \u2018Good night, Ath.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I shut and locked the door behind him, I couldn\u2019t help but replay everything that had happened. Tristan confessing his feelings, the way it had all played out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d always envisioned this moment in my head, dreamed about it countless times over the years. I\u2019d thought it would be a day filled with so much joy that I wouldn\u2019t be able to sleep. But right now, I just felt\u2026 empty. Confused and not excited like I thought I should be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hearing the man I\u2019d loved since I was a teenager finally say the words I\u2019d dreamed of hearing, I expected to be over the moon. But here I was, feeling nothing but a strange numbness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
III 0 <\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:19 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 133\u00a0<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, I still felt something for him. I couldn\u2019t think straight whenever he was close to me or when he touched me. My body still responded to him in ways I couldn\u2019t control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But something was different. Maybe I didn\u2019t love him as intensely as I had years ago. Maybe it had just been a crush all along. Or maybe my heart and mind had simply gotten tired of the constant back and forth between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew Claire was excited about the development. She\u2019d been practically purring ever since he\u2019d tried to marked us. So the problem had to be with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was I falling out of love with Tristan? And if I was, would he be able to make me love him again the way I used to?\u00a0<\/p>\n
71\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 133 Chapter 133\u00a0 Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0 \u0f66771)\u00a0 Tristan Hayes, I said through gritted […]<\/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-26290","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\/26290","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=26290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}