Adrian's lips pressed against mine with more urgency than ever before. The feeling of guilt, cheating like fulfilling that fantasy.
It wasn't tenderness. It wasn't the kind of kiss that left me floating or smiling secure.
No, this was something else. Something I can't figure out straight.
His hands gripped my face almost too tightly, as if I might slip away if he didn't hold on.
His tongue sought mine with frantic desperation. I had no choice but to succumb to his taste.
Every movement rough, hurried.
And when he finally pulled back, I was left breathless. Not in the way I used to be, but as if I'd been drowning.
Are you okay?
I asked, brushing my fingers over his jaw, trying to read the shadows in his eyes.
Yes, I just… missed you so much, he murmured. His smile didn't reach his gaze.
But he had seen me only yesterday. So weird his actions.
And the kiss, it wasn't about missing me. It felt like he was burying something, smothering it with lips and teeth and false passion.
Maya was no better at her end.
She sat across from me in the cafe later that week, stirring her coffee without drinking. Her eyes refused to meet mine, fixed on the swirling liquid as though it held answers.
You've been so quiet Maya. I said lightly, trying to coax her back into herself.
What's going on with you? You can always confide in me.
Nothing, she replied too quickly.
Her voice clipped. Then she forced a laugh, brittle as glass.
You know just stressed with classes, nothing attached.
But I knew Maya. She didn't hide from me at least, not until now.
I can feel she's hiding something from me. But what could it be?
Few minutes later, Adrian walked past our table on his way out, she froze.
Just for a moment. Long enough for me to notice the way her fingers tightened on her cup, the way her breath hitched, the way her eyes betrayed her. Something sticky going on.
The cracks were small, almost invisible, but once noticed, I couldn't unseen them again.
With Adrian's sudden late nights. His evasive answers. His phone lighting up with messages he didn't want me to read. I keep myself on detective role.
Maya's half-smiles. The way her laughter had dimmed when I spoke about him.
Her refusal to meet my eyes whenever Adrian's name slipped from my lips.
Those counts were adding up to my evidence.
They thought they were careful. That I was blind to notice. This is a puzzle I must solve.
Even though every kiss Adrian gave me now carried a bitter taste I couldn't ignore.
One night, as we sat together under the dim glow of his room's lamp, Adrian pulled me close and kissed me with a hunger that felt almost violent.
His hands roamed my back, pulling me into him as though my very presence could absolve him.
So I felt it, the guilt. His lips tasted of it.
It lingered on my tongue, sharp and metallic, like I was kissing a wound that refused to heal.
And when I pulled back, searching his eyes, he smiled too quickly.
I love you my Na na! He said in a sharp tone. Maybe one of his ways of building those affection.
The words should have warmed me. But instead, they burned. Because love shouldn't taste like ashes.
Maya's secret slipped too, one piece at a time.
We were walking home together when I noticed a faint bruise peeking from the collar of her shirt.
What happened to you right here? I asked, reaching out before she could stop me.
She flinched back, tugging her collar higher.
Oh stop, Elena it's nothing. Just bumped into something last night.
But Maya didn't lie well. She's such a terrible lier with three strikes.
Her eyes darted away, her voice trembled, and her pace quickened as though she could outrun the question.
And in that moment, the puzzle shifted. The edges were jagged, incomplete, but the picture was starting to form.
Something was happening. Something between them. And I was standing at the center of it, blindfolded, betrayed with every kiss I accepted.
That night, as I lay in bed, I touched my lips, remembering Adrian's kiss.
It still lingered, bitter, heavy, suffocating.
My heart whispered what my mind refused to accept. There's a secret here. And you're already tasting it.