Adrian's kisses on me were changing. They used to be warm, claiming, filled with promises that made my heart race.
Now they felt practiced, heavy and betrayal. As if he were trying to convince us both that nothing had shifted. But it had.
I saw it in the way he avoided my eyes after kissing me. In the way his hand lingered in mine only a moment too short.
It was subtle, but my body knew the flame between us was dying. And I wasn't the one he was burning for anymore, double feelings.
For Maya, it was the opposite. Every secret glance, every stolen moment with Adrian pulled her deeper into fire she couldn't escape. The feelings are one sided. Engraved in a large picture.
One night, after a group study session, she lingered behind as the others left. Adrian followed, pretending it was coincidence. But it wasn't.
The second the door clicked shut, the tension broke. He pressed her against the wall, his hands trembling with urgency, his mouth finding hers like a man starving.
Maya reciprocate and kissed him back, desperate and guilty all at once.
Her fingers clutched his shirt, her breath ragged against his lips. Then she stops.
We shouldn't, she whispered, breaking away for a fleeting second, her forehead against his.
I know, Adrian admitted. Voice rough with conflict. "But I can't stop. You're in my blood, Maya. You fuel my heart with every beat each time I think about you even when I'm with her."
The confession cut through her like glass. Guilt flooded her chest, but it tangled with something darker, a lot more desire.
The forbidden taste of being chosen, even at the cost of betraying Elena, her best friend.
She kissed him again, harder this time, pouring all her torment into it.
Her heart screamed betrayal, but her body begged for more.
Meanwhile, Elena felt the absence. She noticed the way Adrian's touches grew routine, the way his kisses no longer lingered. He still came to her, still smiled, but something essential was gone.
And though she didn't want to admit it, she already knew why.
Every time Adrian pulled her close, she tasted guilt on his lips. But it wasn't hers. It was Maya's.
Maya, for her part, couldn't escape the guilt. She would sit across from Elena at breakfast, forcing smiles, while Adrian's touch from the night before still burned on her skin.
Elena's laughter twisted inside her chest. Every word, every trust-filled glance cut deeper. She wanted to confess, to tear open the wound before it festered.
But then Adrian would find her, steal another kiss in the shadows, whisper that he needed her, and his world would collapse without her.
Because what they had was wrong. But it was also intoxicating.
And Maya knew sooner or later their secret would burst. And when it did, it would destroy them all.