71\u00a0<\/p>\n
The workday dragged on longer than usual, and I found myself checking the clock every few minutes. My mind kept wandering to the flexeers sisting in my apartment, to the note that had made me smile despite myself, and to the man who had sent them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d stayed at my office throughout, avoiding both Tristan and Orion at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At exactly five o\u2019clock, I heard a familiar knock on my office door. I looked up to see Tristan standing there, looking perfectly put together despite the long day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReady to go?\u201d he asked, but there was something in his tone that suggested this wasn\u2019t just a casual offer to drive me home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo where?\u201d I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew the answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You know where, Ath. You need to tell Orion about your racing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I did know. I\u2019d been avoiding it all day, but I couldn\u2019t put it off forever. Orion deserved to hear it from me rather than finding out some other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d I said quietly, gathering my things. \u201cI just hoped maybe I could wait a little longer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longer you wait, the harder it\u2019s going to be, Tristan said gently. And the more hurt he\u2019s going to be that you kept it from him.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was right, of course. The fact that I\u2019d been racing for weeks without telling him was probably going to sting more than the racing itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ride to Orion\u2019s house was quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I could feel the tension in Tristan\u2019s shoulders where my arms wrapped around his\u00a0<\/p>\n
waist, and I wondered if he was as nervous about this conversation as I was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we pulled up to Orion\u2019s house, I could see warm light spilling from the windows and hear the faint sound of children\u2019s laughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was such a peaceful, domestic scene that I almost felt guilty about disrupting it with my news.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah answered the door with Lily on her hip, both of them smiling when they saw us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it\u2019s nice seeing you two together\u201d Sarah said, stepping aside to let us in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled but said nothing about her comment. \u201cWhere is he?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in the living room with Liam. They\u2019re building some elaborate castle with blocks.\u201d She looked between Tristan and me, her expression growing more\u00a0<\/p>\n
serious. \u201cThis looks like it might be an important conversation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is,\u201d I said. \u201cI need to tell him something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah nodded understanding. I\u2019ll take the kids upstairs and give you some privacy. Babe!\u201d she called toward the living room Athena and Tristan are here to\u00a0<\/p>\n
see you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard Orion\u2019s footsteps before I saw him, and when he appeared in the doorway, his face lit up with genuine pleasure at seeing us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome love\u201d he said, pulling me into one of his bear hugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I need to talk to you about something,\u201d I said, my stomach churning with nerves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:19 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 136\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion\u2019s expression immediately grew more serious. \u201cOkay. Let\u2019s sit down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We settled in the living room, Sarah having efficiently herded the children upstairs with promises of stories and snacks. The sudden quiet felt heavy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s on your mind? Orion asked, leaning forward with his full attention focused on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath and dove in. \u201cI\u2019ve been racing motorcycles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
71\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was deafening. Orion stared at me for several long seconds, his expression cycling through confusion, surprise, and then something\u00a0<\/p>\n
that looked like anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You\u2019ve been what?\u201d His voice was dangerously quiet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRacing. At the track downtown. I\u2019ve been learning for about a month now, and I\u2019ve won seven races.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven races.\u201d He repeated the words like he couldn\u2019t quite process them. \u201cAthena, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I do. But Orion\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d He stood up abruptly, running his hands through his hair in a gesture that reminded me painfully of Tristan. \u201cDo you know how many people get seriously injured or killed racing? Do you know what could happen to you out there?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I forced them back. I\u2019d known this would be his reaction, but it still hurt to see him so upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018She\u2019s good at it, Orion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Orion and I turned to look at Tristan in surprise. I hadn\u2019t expected him to jump to my defense, especially not when he\u2019d been so concerned about my\u00a0<\/p>\n
safety himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018She\u2019s really good,\u201d Tristan continued, his voice steady and calm. \u2018I\u2019ve seen her race. She\u2019s careful, she\u2019s skilled, and she has natural instincts that can\u2019t be\u00a0<\/p>\n
taught.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 136 71\u00a0 The workday dragged on longer than usual, and I found […]<\/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-26293","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\/26293","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=26293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}