I wasn't myself after the field. Aimee's shy little voice… God, the way her cheeks burned red when she tried to talk to me. That moment it stayed in my chest like a drumbeat. I couldn't breathe right, couldn't think straight.
I cut away from the crowd, hoping the silence behind the gym would clear my head. But then
"Kael…"
I froze.
She was there. Selira. Leaning against the wall like she'd been waiting only for me. Her skirt rode high, her thighs catching the last streak of sun. My throat went dry.
Before I could form a word, she moved. Her body pressed into mine, warm, too warm. I could smell her sweet, dizzying, like something that wanted to pull me under.
"I heard you."
Her whisper slid right into my ear. My stomach dropped.
"…heard me?" I muttered.
"In the office." Her lips brushed so close to my skin it burned. "The way your voice cracked… the way you were trying so hard. Practicing what I taught you, weren't you?"
My heart stopped. The shadow. It was her. She had been there.
Selira's arms locked tighter around me, her breasts crushing against my chest. She giggled, soft and wicked, as if she could feel how fast my heart was hammering.
"You're hopeless," she said, eyes flashing up at me. "So eager. So easy to catch."
I swallowed hard, trying to pull away, but her hands refused to let go.
"Selira…"
"What?" she tilted her head, lips a breath away from mine, eyes glowing with amusement. "Isn't this what you wanted? To learn how to win her?"
Her voice was a knife straight to my gut. Aimee's name hung between us unspoken, but Selira didn't need to say it. She already knew.
I couldn't move. Couldn't think. All I felt was the heat of her body pressed so close against me I thought I'd break.
"You really want her, don't you?" Selira whispered, sliding her thigh along mine, slow, deliberate. "Then let me train you again right here."
My fists curled tight at my sides, trying to fight the rush burning through me. Aimee… Her blush was still painted in my mind. And here Selira was, smirking, pulling me deeper, whispering like the devil dressed in silk.
"You'll thank me later," she breathed.
And for a second, I hated myself for not stepping back.
Her body was too close. Her breath warm, sweet brushed against my face, stirring something dangerous in me.
Selira tilted her head, eyes gleaming like she already owned the moment.
"Kael," she whispered, her lips grazing my ear, "stop fighting yourself. You want this. You want me."
"I…" My chest rose too fast. The words wouldn't come out.
She didn't wait. Her thigh pressed against me, hard enough to make my whole body tense. My hands shot up intended to push her away but instead they landed firm on her waist. Heat shot through my arms. Her skirt lifted as she shifted, a flash of striped panties glimmering beneath.
"You see?" Selira smirked, reading the shock on my face. "Hopeless. You touch me, you light me up. Don't hold back."
Her giggle was a dagger. I couldn't fight anymore. My grip pulled her in, and she melted against me, breasts crushing into my chest, her breath spilling fast.
"Mm… that's better." She kissed me not soft, but hungry, biting at my lip as if claiming me.
My mind screamed Aimee! but my body… my body betrayed me. Every second with Selira burned hotter. She ground against me slowly, making me ache with every twist of her hips.
"You'll never get her if you don't practice on me first," Selira whispered between kisses, voice dripping with seduction. "Let me be your training ground, Kael."
I shuddered. My knees almost gave out. She pulled back just enough to lock her gaze into mine, wicked, daring.
"Come home with me."
I froze, chest pounding. "Your… home?"
"Yes," she teased, brushing her lips against my jaw. "Tonight. No excuses. You'll learn everything you need. How to touch. How to claim. How to win."
Her fingers slid down my arm, lacing into my hand like she was sealing a deal.
"If you're serious about Aimee," Selira added with a sly smile, "then you'll use me first."
My throat was dry, my breath shallow, but I nodded. I didn't trust my voice.
Selira's smirk widened, satisfied. She tugged my hand, pressing it over her breast and holding it there. My pulse thundered.
"Good boy," she whispered. "Now follow me… and don't stop until I tell you."
The streets blurred as I walked beside her, my mind heavy, heart restless. I couldn't believe I'd actually agreed following Selira all the way to her home. Each step was betrayal and temptation twisted together.
Her apartment wasn't far, a quiet corner lit by the pale dusk. She unlocked the door with an easy sway of her hips, glancing back at me, that smirk never leaving her lips.
Inside, it smelled of perfume and something faintly sweet, like strawberries crushed against skin. She dropped her bag lazily, kicked off her shoes, then turned to me with arms folded under her chest, making her curves rise even higher.
"It seems you're finally getting it," she said, voice silk and poison at once. "Finally learning what it takes… to get closer to Aimee."
Her words cut through me. My throat tightened. Aimee. Always Aimee.
Selira stepped closer, her smile low, teasing, almost cruel. She leaned in until her lips brushed my ear, her breath warm enough to scorch.
"Didn't you grab Aimee," she whispered slowly, each word a trap, "…the other day?"
My eyes widened. My chest caved in with a rush of panic.
Shock froze me. I couldn't move. Couldn't answer.
Selira leaned back just enough to catch my expression, and her smile deepened mischievous, knowing.
The air between us burned. My mind spiraled.
How the hell does she know?
And just like that the moment cracked, leaving me on the edge of something I wasn't ready to face.
My chest tightened as the words replayed in my head. Didn't you grab Aimee the other day?
The whisper still burned against my ear, her perfume lingering like a curse I couldn't shake off. My palms sweated, heart hammering so hard it echoed in my ears.
Selira leaned back, smiling in that sly way of hers, as though she already had the answers, as though she could peel open my chest and read every thought I was hiding.
I forced a dry laugh, my voice cracking. "You—what are you talking about?"
She tilted her head, lips curling. "Don't play dumb with me, Kael. I know what I saw… the way your hands clung, the way your body reacted. You think no one was there, but " she paused, eyes narrowing with a devilish glint, " I was."
My stomach dropped. Cold sweat lined my back.
She was the shadow that day? She heard—saw everything?
"Selira…" My voice barely came out, half broken. "It… it wasn't Aimee."
For the first time, her smirk flickered.
I saw it the confusion rippling across her eyes, the crack in her unshakable confidence. She blinked, her lips parting slightly, then leaned in closer, as if needing to confirm the truth right off my face. "Not… Aimee?" she repeated, almost to herself.
The silence grew thick.
I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "That day… in the office… when I grabbed… it wasn't Aimee. It was you."
Her eyes widened. The playful teasing that always coated her face slipped away like sand sliding off glass. She froze, just staring at me, chest rising and falling faster, her breath caught in her throat.
I hadn't seen Selira like this before unguarded, raw. For once, it wasn't her pulling me apart with smirks and games. It was me, standing here, shoving the truth between us like a blade.
Her lips trembled into a half-smile, but it wasn't steady. It was uncertain, nervous. She chuckled under her breath, low, shaky. "So… all this time… it was me?"
I nodded once. My pulse pounded. "It was you."
For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The room felt smaller, walls pressing in, air thick with something neither of us knew how to name.
She turned away suddenly, brushing her hair back roughly, pacing two steps before whipping around again. Her green-streaked hair caught the dim light, her glasses sliding slightly down her nose.
Her eyes locked onto mine burning, searching. "Kael, do you know what you've just said?"
I swallowed, nodding again. "Yes. And now… I can't take it back."
Her chest heaved, the silence stretching until it almost crushed me. Then, in a whisper, she spoke:
"That means… everything I thought I knew is wrong."
I couldn't breathe. My fists clenched by my side, my mind torn between guilt, lust, and the creeping realization that none of this Aimee, Mia, Selira was simple anymore.
She stared at me, eyes wide, smirk gone, voice barely steady. "Kael… if it was me… then what does that make us?"
I had no answer. Only the weight of her question ringing in my skull.
Her laugh came low at first, almost like she was trying to convince herself. She turned sharply, eyes blazing, voice cutting through the silence.
"I caught you at the office door, Kael," Selira said, her tone sharper than I'd ever heard it. "I heard your voice behind the wall, every damn word dripping out of your mouth… and now you're telling me it was me?"
She stepped closer, her body trembling ever so slightly, though she masked it with a smirk. "Kael, what are you trying to pull?"
My throat locked. My excuses tangled in my chest, and for a second I thought maybe I could twist my way out, dodge her suspicion like I always did with others.
But the weight of her gaze hot, piercing, demanding broke me.
"I'm not pulling anything," I said, voice low but steady, even as my chest threatened to cave in. "It was you, Selira. That day. When I grabbed her " I stopped myself, then pushed on, " when I grabbed you. I thought it was Aimee… until I realized it wasn't. It was you all along."
Her lips parted, her breath hitched, and for the first time Selira's mask of confidence slipped completely. She didn't move, didn't smirk, didn't giggle. Just stood there staring at me like the ground had cracked beneath her feet.
"You mean…" Her voice faltered. "It wasn't her I heard you with. It was " She touched her chest, her palm flattening against her blouse, as though steadying her heart. "…me?"
I nodded once. The air between us pulsed with a tension too raw to ignore.
Selira shook her head, a weak laugh spilling out, but it wasn't her usual mocking tone. It was disbelief, nervous, almost fragile. "Kael… do you realize what that means? All this time I thought you were practicing your little games on Aimee. I thought—" she swallowed, eyes softening, " I thought you were just another boy chasing the shy girl in class."
She took a step closer, her body brushing mine, her perfume wrapping around me again. Her glasses tilted down slightly as her eyes locked on mine, unblinking. "But if it was me then Kael…"
She leaned in, whispering so close her breath burned my ear. "…what exactly are you doing with me?"
My chest pounded. I had no answer.
And in that silence, the truth hung heavy, pulling us both into something neither of us expected.