Chapter 142\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked between the two of them, completely lost. \u201cSay what? What\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek made some kind of hand signal and walked away without explanation, leaving me alone with Tristan and three unconscious men on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go home, Tristan said, but I didn\u2019t move. I stood my ground because I needed answers about what had just happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan looked at me with a slight smile that didn\u2019t reach his eyes. \u201cYou really want to know?\u2018 I nodded firmly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the last part of your race, I heard people in the crowd whispering among themselves. They were saying you were sleeping with I and Derek, and that\u2019s why we are allowing you to race even though you were supposedly just starting out. They were spreading rumors that your wins weren\u2019t legitimate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I\u2019ve killed the source don\u2019t worry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at him, feeling mortified and angry at the same time. The accusation was both ridiculous and insulting, but I could see from the murderous look on Tristan\u2019s face that he was taking it much more seriously than I was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to let it get to you,\u201d I said reasonably. \u201cYou know it\u2019s not true, and I know it\u2019s not true. That\u2019s what matters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets to me, Ath. Anything that\u2019s said against you is said against me. Anyone who insults you insults me directly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that, but you can\u2019t always react with violence. We\u2019re among humans here. What would you do if you overheard regular people saying something like this about me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan\u2019s smile turned predatory. \u201cDon\u2019t underestimate me, Ath. I have influence and power in both worlds.\u201d I knew, I never doubted him once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at the man lying motionless on the concrete. \u201cHe\u2019s not dead, is he?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis saving grace was that you were here to witness it, Tristan replied darkly. \u201cOtherwise, this conversation would have had a very different ending.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to do with him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018He\u2019ll be joining his friends somewhere they can think about the consequences of running their mouths.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t ask for details, and he didn\u2019t offer any. I could read between the lines well enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Not just him, Tristan continued. \u201cHis two followers will be escorting him to the same destination.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t say anything, and surprisingly, I didn\u2019t feel any pity for them either. Every action had consequences, and they were about to learn that lesson the hard way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I trusted Tristan to handle the situation appropriately. There were times to be strong and independent, and there were times to let the man you cared about take charge and protect you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was definitely one of the latter times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Can we go now?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of answering with words, Tristan scooped me up into his arms like I weighed nothing at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:20 Sat, Jan 10 GR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 142\u00a0<\/p>\n
I yelped in surprise. What are you doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Taking my woman home, of course. You won your race tonight, and you deserve special treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If this was the reward for winning races, I made a mental note to keep winning every single one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan carried me bridal style away from the unconscious men, leaving them lying there like discarded trash. I was grateful that this section of the racing center was deserted, because I would have died of embarrassment if anyone had seen us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I made another mental note to ask Tristan about Derek later. There were clearly things about him that I feel was hidden, and his sudden shift from pursuing me romantically to protecting me for Tristan\u2019s sake raised a lot of questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we reached Tristan\u2019s motorcycle, he managed to maintain his hold on me while retrieving our helmets with one hand. The man had impressive\u00a0<\/p>\n
coordination when he wanted to show off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ride to my apartment was surreal. Being carried like a princess, then riding behind the man who had just defended my honor with swift and decisive violence. It felt like something out of a fairy tale, if fairy tales included werewolves and underground motorcycle racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we arrived at my building, Tristan carried me the same way up to my apartment. He even managed to unlock my door with one hand while keeping me securely held with the other, a feat of dexterity that shouldn\u2019t have been as attractive as I found it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t protest or ask to be put down. When would I ever have another opportunity to be treated like this? Most people never found someone who respected them enough to treat them like they were precious, someone who used their strength to protect rather than control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan carried me directly to my bedroom and gently laid me down on my bed. But instead of stepping back immediately, he stayed there, hovering over me with an expression I could read clearly read.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was staring at me like he wanted to kiss me, and God help me, I wanted him to. Badly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes dropped to my lips, and I felt my stomach flip with anticipation. The air between us was charged with want, heavy with unspoken desire and the kind of tension that made it hard to breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 142 Chapter 142\u00a0 I looked between the two of them, completely lost. […]<\/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-26299","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\/26299","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=26299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}