The days that followed were filled with silence.
Jason and I barely spoke after I told him the truth. The weight of what I had said hung between us, suffocating any attempt at normalcy. His eyes—those eyes that once held so much love for me—were now distant, cold, and hurt. It was as if a wall had come up between us, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break through.
He still came over, still took care of me, but there was an emptiness in the way he touched me, in the way he spoke. I could feel it in every word, in every gesture, that we were both pretending. Pretending that we could go back to what we once were. But I knew we couldn't. I knew I had shattered something between us that could never be fixed.
And then there was Ethan.
Every time I saw him, my heart skipped a beat. The way he looked at me—intense, powerful, like he could see right through me—drove me crazy. There was no escaping it. No escaping him.
I kept telling myself it was wrong. That I couldn't just throw my life away for a man who barely knew me. But when Ethan was near, everything else faded away. The guilt. The shame. The uncertainty.
It was just him and me.
And one night, after work, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I couldn't keep pretending that I didn't want him.
I went to his apartment.
The moment he opened the door, I could feel the tension. His eyes darkened when he saw me standing there, but there was no hesitation in his movements as he stepped aside to let me in.
"I've been waiting for you," he said, his voice low and dangerous, as if he knew exactly what I needed.
I didn't answer. I didn't need to. We both knew why I was here.
He led me into his living room, and for a moment, everything felt still. We stood there, the space between us charged, until I couldn't take it anymore.
"I can't keep doing this," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I can't keep hurting him. But I can't stay away from you."
Ethan didn't speak. He didn't need to. He crossed the room in two steps, cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me like it was the only thing that mattered.
And I kissed him back.
There was no turning back now.