Page 232 of The Bittersweet Bond

Just one goddamn night.

He had to pull himself together.

As he stepped out of the dark classroom, he felt it.

Even before it happened.

A movement—just on the edge of his vision, something indistinct, a shadow, a presence, the quiet echo of footsteps against the floor.

And then—

The impact.

Hard, sudden, real.

Her body collided with his, unexpected yet inevitable. A muted thud, a sharp inhale, then the sudden sensation of warmth. She stumbled slightly, and instinct, ingrained deep into his bones, made him reach for her.

His hands found her arms, pulling her toward him, holding on longer than necessary. A fraction of a second too long.

For a moment, the world stood still.

Evin.

But for Bas, it felt like someone had cracked his chest open and ripped something out with their bare hands.

She was so close he could feel her breath on his skin. Her perfume mixed with the bitter taste of alcohol still lingering on his tongue.

Her eyes widened—not in fear, but in that kind of stunned reaction that was so much more than just an accidental collision.

He could feel her heart pounding beneath his touch, sense the tension in her muscles, the silent resistance she wasn’t quite able to summon.

A single blink.

Then, she tore herself away.

Not hurried. But firm. Too firm. Almost annoyed. Like a reflex she had trained herself to have.

He didn’t know what was worse.

That she was standing in front of him again, after all this time.

Or that he still fucking wanted her, like he never stopped.

And as the moment restarted, as the world around them clicked back into motion, as he could still feel the lingering warmth of her against his skin, Bas knew one thing with absolute certainty:

He shouldn’t have been drinking.

Not tonight.

Not when just being near her was enough to throw him completely off balance.

__________

Evin

It felt like someone had sucked the air out of the room.

She didn’t know what she had expected when she turned into the hallway—but it wasn’t this.

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