The glass was still faintly fogged, a thin halo of condensation tracing down its sides. Droplets gathered at the base, sliding slowly across the table. Leyla watched them move, her gaze fixed as if she could read some hidden meaning in their path.
The night wasn’t going the way she’d expected. Or maybe that was the real problem, she hadn’t let herself expect anything at all. Simon and Taylor dropping by had been a surprise, and ever since they’d found themselves alone, every moment felt thick with something unnamed, something waiting to happen.
Leyla brushed a strand of hair from her face and sighed. The confusion hadn’t vanished, but she’d gotten better at hiding it.
Simon was talking. She couldn’t even remember when he’d started, but his voice washed over her like soft background music. It was easy to look him in the eyes, to smile back, even to answer, though always a heartbeat too late.
Taylor, on the other hand, barely said a word. He wasn’t cold or distant, just… there. In that way that makes you feel watched. Every move he made was deliberate, careful, like he didn’t want to give anything away. That silence of his, more telling than a hundred words, was what really got under her skin.
Leyla turned toward Simon, dragging herself away from her thoughts. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“That you should come check out the gym where I work,” he said, leaning forward a little. “I could put together a routine for you, something to strengthen your legs. It’s practically empty at certain hours. Might do you some good.”
Leyla gave him a faint smile. Not intentional, more like a reflex. Being around Simon was easy. His voice carried that kind of quiet warmth that settled under your skin.
And yet, while he got lost in her eyes, Leyla felt another gaze. Unseen, but there. It didn’t touch her, but somehow it stripped her bare, slowly, deliberately, peeling away her defenses one by one.
“Sure. Once I can move a little better, I’ll stop by,” she said, forcing herself to stay anchored in the moment.
Simon glanced at his friend.
“Maybe you could take her,” he suggested.
Taylor nodded once.
“Why not. I’ll pick you up in the morning. We’ll stop by for the prints, then head straight to the gym.”
Leyla tensed ever so slightly, praying Taylor hadn’t noticed the hesitation crawling beneath her skin. “I just hope Helen doesn’t mind me going with you instead of her.”
“Not a chance,” Simon cut in quickly. “Helen trusts us. If she didn’t, do you really think we’d be sitting here right now?”
She lowered her gaze, the knot in her stomach refusing to loosen. “I just hope you’re not doing this out of obligation.”
Taylor leaned forward a bit, one brow arched in mock seriousness.
“They didn’t tell you we’re getting paid for this?”
Leyla stared at him, caught off guard. Simon let out a short laugh and shook his head.
“Don’t mind him. And trust me, you’ve got it all wrong.”
She wanted to say something better, something that didn’t sound so small, but all that came out was, “Okay… what time were you thinking?”
“Would eight work for you?” Taylor asked.
“Perfect. I’ll leave the door cracked open.”
A shadow flickered in her eyes.
“Is it possible Adam’s still not back?” she murmured, mostly to herself.
Taylor’s offer had thrown her off balance, stirring up a sudden, almost aching need to be alone.
Leyla tuned out their voices. She pushed the half-empty glass back and forth across the table, tracing watery rings that overlapped and bled into each other. The glass gave a faint, restless creak.
Then, with a quick motion, Taylor stopped it before it tipped over. His fingers brushed against hers, steady, deliberate.
The touch made Leyla’s heart skip a beat. Not because of the contact itself, but because of what it carried with it: steadiness. Presence. A quiet kind of control. Something she wasn’t sure she really wanted to understand.
She pulled back, trying to play it off, but the warmth had already risen to her cheeks. And even though Taylor wasn’t touching her anymore, his presence still lingered on her skin.
“Relax, I don’t bite,” he said with a teasing grin, his tone light, like he was trying to erase the weight that had just settled between them.
She didn’t answer. She wouldn’t have known what to say.
That’s when the door opened. Adam walked in like a wave washing away the tension, impassive, or maybe just good at pretending not to notice the awkward air still hanging in the room.
His arrival broke the spell. Within minutes, Adam, Simon, and Taylor said their goodbyes to Leyla and slipped out into the night, leaving her there, wrapped in the quiet, slowly settling back over everything.
She remained still, as if time itself had started to slow.
It was just past midnight, yet the day weighed on her like it had lasted a whole year. Everything blurred together into one long haze: Cassie and Tiffany’s sharp words, Helen’s visit with the kids, the sudden arrival of Adam, Simon… and Taylor. His name kept echoing in her head, slow, insistent.
She turned off the lights and went to the bathroom. Brushed her teeth in slow, mechanical motions, then slipped on her favorite oversized shirt, the one that always made her feel a little safer, like a piece of home she could still wear.
Back in her room, she didn’t lie down right away. She stood by the window, staring into the darkness as if it might give her an answer.
“Too much… it’s all been too much,” she whispered.
A damn cauldron of emotions had been boiling inside her ever since she’d set foot in that city. And tonight, someone had stirred it again, too hard this time.
Yet as she slid beneath the covers, a strange calm began to settle over her, the kind that comes only when you’re too tired to fight it anymore, when your body gives out before your mind does. She closed her eyes, letting herself sink into sleep, suspended between what had been… and what was about to begin.
✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧
THE SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS 💓
In Chapter 25 of Edenlost, a fogged glass and a deliberate touch change everything. While Simon offers a steady path, Taylor’s presence lingers on Leyla’s skin like an unspoken promise.
Is it obligation, or is it something deeper?
Dive into the emotional “cauldron” of the saga awarded the FIRST PRIZE GERUNDO FANTASY. 🏆
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