The shift in her expression was immediate. Surprise flickered, sharp, almost childlike, and then vanished beneath a mask so smooth I almost missed it.
Almost.
But I saw it.
She wasn't expecting that.
I smiled, slow and deliberate, letting it stretch across my face like velvet over a blade. I shifted in my seat, crossing my legs again with a lazy grace, spine straight and voice syrupy.
"My point still stands," I said, voice casual, but lined with barbed wire. "There's nothing between us. Nothing meaningful, at least. Just sex. Just… pleasure."
Ash tilted her head, watching me with narrowed eyes, like she was watching a flame trying to pretend it wasn't burning everything it touched.
But I wasn't done.
I leaned forward slightly, elbows on my knees, letting the words tumble out like poison laced in honey. "We get off. That's it. No deeper meaning. No twisted love story. No heartstrings."
I smiled again, wider this time, teeth glinting. But inside?
Inside I was crumbling.
