Chapter 6: What We Never Said
367 Words
Chapter 6: What We Never Said
The ride home from dinner was dead silent.
Camille stared out the window, watching the blur of streetlights and raindrops streak down the glass.
Elias hadn’t said a word since his aunt left — no comment, no sarcasm, no apology for how close he’d gotten under the table.
> Maybe silence is easier, she thought.
Less dangerous than asking questions with answers you don’t want to hear.
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Back at the penthouse, Camille kicked off her heels and headed straight for the guest room — but Elias’s voice stopped her.
> “Camille.”
She paused.
> “That dinner was real. Not everything else, I know. But that—” he hesitated. “That was real.”
She turned slowly. “Which part? The pretending? The hand on mine under the table? Or the part where you said it meant nothing this morning?”
His jaw tensed. “I never said you meant nothing.”
> “You didn’t have to.”
The air tightened.
Camille stepped closer. “You can’t keep doing this, Elias. Acting like you don’t care, then looking at me like you still do.”
> “You want me to say it?” he snapped. “Fine. I care.”
She froze.
> “You care,” she repeated quietly.
> “Yes.” His voice cracked. “I never stopped.”
Silence.
Then: “So why did you let me walk away?”
Elias stepped closer, slowly — eyes full of something unspoken. “Because I didn’t know how to keep you. I thought pushing you away would hurt less than losing you for real.”
Camille’s heart pounded.
> “You already lost me.”
> “Then let me earn you back.”
His hand reached for her — soft, hesitant, almost pleading.
And for a second… she let him touch her.
Foreheads pressed.
Breaths shared.
Memories alive again.
But just before their lips met, Camille pulled back, blinking fast.
> “Thirty days, Elias. That’s all we’ve got. Don’t make this harder.”
Then she left him standing there — torn between what they were and what they might still be.
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