The Only Exception

10. Ugliest Emotion

She blinked, startled — not because of his words, but because she hadn't realized how lost she'd been in her thoughts.

"Oh. I... yeah. Yes." She nodded quickly. "She's fine. I know."

She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her voice was thinner than she meant it to be. Hollow.

And Alaz noticed.

He didn't respond right away. Just glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his jaw tightening, his grip on the steering wheel flexing slightly.

Something had changed.

He didn't know what. But he felt it in his chest like a sudden temperature drop.

When she'd kissed him — when she whispered his name with that trembling voice and moaned into his mouth — he'd been sure.

Sure she wanted him the way he wanted her.

But now?

She was... somewhere else.

Not angry. Not cold. But distant.

And Alaz didn't know what to do with that.

He wanted to touch her. Reach across the center console, slide his fingers into hers, pull her hand into his lap like they were already something.

But he didn't.

Because right now, Asi was staring out the window like she needed an ocean between them.

He turned his eyes back to the road, his mind racing.

It hadn't just been a kiss to him.

It was a promise. An unraveling. A confession without words.

He had wanted her for so long. Not just her body. Her. The way she laughed. The way she argued. The way she tucked her feet under her when she sat on the couch. The way she fell asleep half on his chest when she claimed she wouldn't.

And when she kissed him?

He thought they were finally on the same page.

But maybe he'd been wrong.

Maybe for her it had just been the heat of the moment. The adrenaline. The near-miss with Ruya. The closeness of sharing a life with someone who was there.

Maybe he was just convenient.

That thought made his stomach twist.

He glanced at her again. Her fingers were curled tightly in her lap. Her expression unreadable.

But the silence screamed.

He clenched his jaw again, forcing himself to breathe.

He wanted to ask — What's wrong? Did I do something? Did the kiss scare you? — but the words got stuck in his throat. He didn't want to push. Not when she was clearly retreating.

So instead, he swallowed his need and turned back to the road.

Outside, the city blurred past.

Inside, they sat in silence.

But their bodies remembered.

Their mouths remembered.

Their hearts — though quiet — were still burning.

*

The key clicked in the door, and the apartment opened to silence.

Familiar silence. Comfortable. Lived-in.