when i fell for the wrong player

CHAPTER 7

 **Safeer's POV**

I told myself it was just one night. Just a college hangout with friends. No big deal.But the second I walked into the crowded apartment, the smell of beer, perfume, and sweat hit me like a wall. Laughter bounced off the walls. Music thumped through the floorboards.

 Everyone was already half-drunk, faces glowing red from alcohol and excitement.

I should've just stayed with Zania. But staying? Staying meant sitting still, answering questions about my life, listening to her small worries, and pretending everything was fine while my chest felt like it was being squeezed.

And then I saw her.

Ariel. Standing by the couch, a glass in her hand, that damn confident smirk curling across her lips.

"Safeer," she said, voice casual but loaded. "I didn't think you'd come tonight.""Yeah, well," I mumbled, trying to keep my tone light. "Friends invited me. You?"

She leaned in slightly, a little too close, and my head started spinning—not from the alcohol yet. I was spinning just from proximity, from the thrill, from the pull I wasn't supposed to feel.

And when she laughed at something one of the guys said, brushing her hair behind her ear like she knew exactly what she was doing... I forgot to think.

*One drink. Just one.*Two drinks. Three. The music, the laughter, the smell of her perfume and her presence—it all blurred. My head felt foggy. My thoughts didn't make sense anymore.

And I kissed her.

Just a brush of lips. Quick. But enough.

Her lips moved against mine and... I didn't stop.It wasn't about wanting her. Not exactly. It was about forgetting everything I had—about forgetting Zania, about forgetting responsibility, about pretending I was free.I pulled back for a second, chest heaving, heart hammering. The second I saw her eyes, smoldering with mischief, guilt hit me like a punch.*Oh no. What have I done?*

 **Zania's POV**I should've known. I should've known something was off when he started leaving texts unread, when calls went unanswered, when he suddenly had "friends' plans" every weekend.I didn't want to believe it. I *didn't.*

But a tiny voice in my head whispered the truth: Ariel was too close. She laughed too much at his jokes, lingered too long in his presence. And he... he didn't stop her.

The texts came the next morning. One of his friends had sent me a picture. Safeer. With Ariel. Lips brushing. Arms tangled.

I froze.

The coffee I had been sipping fell to the counter. My hands shook. My stomach turned inside out.I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something. I wanted to *hate* him... but the truth was worse than hate.

I still loved him.

And somehow, that made it hurt more.

 **Safeer's POV (closing of Chapter 7)**I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, my stomach twisting. My phone buzzed endlessly.

Texts from Zania. She was awake. Angry. Hurt. Confused.I hadn't planned on this. I hadn't planned to lose her trust in *one night.*But I had.

And I knew—*I had crossed a line that couldn't be unseen.*