Page 63 of Kentrell

I hated how right he was.

My lips parted before I could stop them. Just for a second. Like my mouth remembered his. Like I wanted?—

Then I saw her.

Kendra.

In the hallway. Pretending she wasn’t watching. But her eyes were locked on us.

My stomach dropped.

Kentrell noticed the shift immediately. “Wussup?”

I didn’t answer. Just kept my eyes on Kendra’s silhouette through the glass.

“Zoe, you playin’,” he muttered, voice dropping darker. “Don’t front yo move, shorty.”

I closed my eyes.

Two choices.

Keep resisting and give Kendra something to run her mouth about... or take the reins.

When I looked back at him, my voice was tight, but steady. “Fine.”

The word tasted like surrender—but it wasn’t.

It was control.

I stepped back just enough to put some space between us, smoothing my skirt, adjusting my blouse like my pulse wasn’t doing cartwheels behind my ribs. My face stayed still, every move calculated.

Stop fighting your body. Give in. But on your terms.

Mars’s voice echoed in my head like a dare.

This was my opening. If I was ever going to take her advice and execute this one-weekend-only deal, now was the time. My moment.

I cleared my throat and glanced toward the glass wall. Kendra was gone, but the feeling of being watched still crawled across my skin.

Kentrell hadn’t moved. Just stood there, tracking every little motion. His gaze dropped—slow, steady—lingering at the curve of my waist and the slit of my skirt like he’d already unwrapped me in his head.

“You still putting that shit on with me on yo mind,” he said, voice low, cocky.

I didn’t give him the reaction he was fishing for. My blouse was mauve satin—soft, almost sheer under the office lights. The skirt? Black. Sleek. Cut just high enough to toe the line.

But I said nothing.

Not yet.

My lips pressed tight as I tried to find the words, but he caught the shift in my shoulders before I could.

“You good?” he asked, voice dipping unexpectedly. Then, like he regretted even asking—“Look?—”

“No,youlook, Mr. Caldwell.”

His mouth snapped shut.

I stepped forward, not backing down. Not this time.

---