Chapter 16
642 Words
Chapter 16: Stormlight
The elevator creaked as it ascended, groaning under the weight of everything she couldn’t say.
Feliz stood still, arms crossed tight, eyes fixed on the glowing floor numbers. Her stomach twisted. Her throat dry. Her mind loud.
She should’ve stayed in her room.
She should’ve ignored that stupid rooftop message.
But here she was.
The doors slid open with a soft ding.
Wind greeted her first—cool, damp, the scent of rain still fresh in the air. The rooftop garden of Maison Sauveur was dimly lit, shadows dancing beneath warm amber lights and the soft buzz of the city.
And there he was.
Sly.
Back to her. Hands shoved in his coat pockets. Perfectly still, like the calm after a storm that hadn’t really passed.
He didn’t move when he heard her.
Didn’t turn.
Feliz stepped out.
Her heels tapped against the concrete. She stopped a few paces behind him.
Feliz [cold, quiet]
“You really like your dramatic entrances, huh?”
No answer.
Just the sound of wind.
She swallowed her pride and stepped closer.
Feliz [tense]
“Why are you playing with my feelings?”
Sly turned then—slow, deliberate.
His face was unreadable. But his eyes? Fire and wreckage.
Sly [low]
“You think I’m playing?”
Feliz [frustrated]
“You flirt. You touch. You whisper like you mean something. Then you pull back like I’m the one chasing ghosts.”
Sly took a step toward her. His voice dropped, sharp and tight.
Sly [biting]
“I tease, yes. I show up in your space, make you want me. That’s how I work. But you—”
He pointed at her, eyes narrowing.
Sly [cold, cracking]
“You kissed me. You. Not the other way around.”
Feliz’s breath caught.
Sly [harder now]
“You looked at me like you were drowning and I was the only goddamn air. I thought—”
[a bitter laugh]
“I thought you let me in.”
Silence.
Sly [quiet but angry]
“But you shut the door. Again. And again. I push, and you pull. That kiss? You told me to forget it. Like it was nothing.”
Feliz looked away.
The guilt. The ache. The mess of wanting and fearing and not knowing how to hold both.
Sly stepped closer.
Close enough for her to feel it—his breath, his tension, his hurt.
Sly [low]
“You’re too afraid. And now that I’m finally giving you what you say you want—space—you hate it.”
Feliz’s lips parted, but nothing came out.
He wasn’t wrong.
Sly [voice like a blade]
“I used to love the game. I stayed because it thrilled me. But if the game gets boring, I leave.”
Feliz flinched.
Something in her chest tightened—sharp and sudden. She wanted to reach for him. Say something that could undo it all. But her hands stayed still. Her lips, sealed. Because how do you call someone back when you’re the one who kept shutting the door? She had built walls so high, she forgot how to climb them down. And now, with every word he threw like a warning… She felt it. He wasn’t just mad. He was done waiting.
Sly leaned in, just enough for the words to sting.
Sly [slow, final]
“So tell me when you’re ready. Just be sure. I don’t care if it’s love or lust, real or a game—I can play both. Just don’t waste my time.”
He pulled back. Turned. Walked toward the elevator.
Feliz didn’t stop him.
Didn’t beg.
But her heart screamed after him.
The doors slid closed.
And for the first time in a long time, Feliz felt something terrifying:
She might have just watched the last person who saw through her… walk away.
- Writer
