Lara’s heart didn’t stop racing the whole drive home. The city lights blurred past the car window—neon signs, late-night hawkers, couples laughing on sidewalks like nothing in the world could touch them. She kept glancing at Kai’s profile, the way his jaw clenched tight under the streetlamp glow, hands gripping the wheel like he was holding back from crushing it.
“Who was that?” she finally whispered, voice barely cutting through the hum of the AC.
Kai didn’t look at her. “Not here. Wait till we’re inside.”
The elevator ride up to the apartment felt endless—silent, tense, the kind of quiet that presses on your chest like a weight. Lara’s thighs still trembled from the restaurant, a sticky reminder of how good the night had started. Now it felt like a dream turning sour at the edges.
He
