A Touch Too Close
248 Words
Chapter 31: A Touch Too Close
The air between them had changed.
Jay returned that evening, quieter than usual. He didn’t explain where he’d been. Lena didn’t ask.
Instead, they danced around each other in the kitchen, in the hallway, in the way their hands brushed when passing a glass.
He leaned close at one point to grab something behind her. His breath grazed her neck. She shivered.
“Cold?” he asked, voice husky.
She looked up at him. “No.”
Their eyes met. Held.
Jay stepped back first.
Lena turned away, breath caught in her throat. She hated how her body reacted around him, how even the smallest touch set her skin on fire.
Later, she found herself in his study again. Not snooping—just existing in his space.
That’s when she heard the door creak open.
Jay stood there, shirt half-unbuttoned, eyes dark and unreadable.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.
“No.”
“Neither could I.”
Silence filled the space between them. Thick. Heavy.
“I should go to bed,” Lena whispered, stepping past him.
His hand caught her wrist. Not tight. Not rough. Just… "gentle.
“Lena.”
She paused.
His eyes searched hers. “If you ever feel like I’m hiding something—it’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because I’m scared.”
She blinked, heart pounding.
“Of what?”
“Of losing you.”
Then he let go.
And she left—shaking.
- Writer
