Chapter 24: The Fallout
Anna
The kiss still buzzed in my lips like static warm, breathless, and far too real. I could still feel the way his mouth had claimed mine, desperate and unforgiving, like he'd been waiting years to finally touch me again.
Maybe he had.
I backed away first, like the distance could erase what had just happened. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at him under the rooftop lights, searching for something to say that would undo the last ten minutes.
"I shouldn't have let that happen," I said, breathless.
Kelvin didn't flinch. His jaw was tight, his eyes unreadable. "You didn't exactly stop it."
I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly freezing, even in the warm night air. "That doesn't mean it was right."
"No," he agreed, voice low. "But it was honest."
Honest.
I hated how true that sounded. That kiss hadn't come from nowhere. It had been waiting between us for years simmering in every stolen glance, every angry silence, every memory we never dared say out loud.
I turned away, afraid that if I looked at him again, I'd lose the little composure I had left. "You're my boss, Kelvin."
He laughed once bitter and hollow. "You think this is about work?"
"It is. You hired me. You made this complicated."
He stepped closer, and I could feel the heat of him behind me. "I didn't make this complicated, Anna. You did. When you left. When you never called. When you walked away like I didn't exist."
I spun around, stung by the bitterness in his voice. "You think that was easy for me?"
"Was it hard?" His voice cracked. "Because for me, it was a fucking war I lost every day. You slept with me me, Anna and woke up like it was the worst mistake of your life."
I flinched.
He saw it. And softened—just enough to break me.
"I was your best friend," he whispered. "And you didn't even give me a chance to talk to you after that night."
"You don't know what it felt like," I murmured, my throat tight.
"No?" he snapped. "Because I remember it all. I remember you looking at me like I wasn't me. Like you were searching for him in my face. And when I woke up alone... when I realized what you thought... I wanted to rip the skin off my body just to forget how much I wanted you."
Tears burned my eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But you did."
Silence fell between us, heavy and full of things we'd never said.
Then he added, quieter, "I was in love with you."
My heart stopped.
He hadn't said it back then. Not in college, not in high school. Not even that night. And now the truth sat between us like a live wire too hot, too dangerous to touch.
"Kelvin…" My voice broke.
"I waited," he said. "I waited, thinking maybe you'd call. Maybe you'd come back. But you just disappeared. I tried to move on. I built something. I became someone. But every woman I kissed… wasn't you."
I couldn't breathe. "I didn't know how to come back."
"You still don't," he said gently. "You're still running."
I shook my head. "I have a boyfriend."
"I know."
"You're my boss."
"I know that, too."
"Then this can't happen," I said. "It shouldn't have happened."
Kelvin looked at me for a long moment, the fight in him slowly giving way to something softer. "But it did."
I turned before I could fall apart completely, escaping toward the elevator with shaky steps. I didn't look back. If I did, I knew I'd go to him again. Kiss him again. Burn everything again.
As the elevator doors slid shut, I heard his voice low and certain.
"This isn't over, Anna."
And I knew he was right.