Kisses With Consequences

One thing about Kendra? She didn't forgive pretty.

She didn't block you. Didn't throw drinks in your face. She didn't even yell. Kendra silenced people. She erased them like typos—neatly, perfectly, and with a smile that felt like a slap.

Lea had been on the receiving end of that smile all week.

The law library was quiet, full of hushed voices and tapping keys. Lea sat in the corner of the accounting section with a worn textbook and a stomach full of dread. Her period still hadn't come. She hadn't bought another test.

She hadn't talked to Kendra either.

They passed each other on campus like strangers who used to know each other's dreams.

Kendra's smile was sharper than usual now. Her heels louder. Her group of law girl followers had doubled—tight-knit, loud-laughing, always watching Lea like they were waiting for her to trip.

Maybe she already had.

Devin was in class today. He didn't sit near Kendra. He didn't sit near Lea, either.

He'd kissed her once, touched her under the curve of her hoodie, murmured she tasted like vanilla and fear—and then vanished the next day.

She hadn't told anyone. Not even Andre.

The shame was its own kind of silence.

"So what really happened?" Andre asked, tossing a pen across her desk later that afternoon. "You gonna keep acting like you didn't low-key detonate a whole-ass friendship?"

"I kissed him," Lea muttered.

"Who?"

"Devin."

Andre blinked.

"Kendra's Devin?"

"He's not hers."

"Oh, baby girl," he said, hand on his heart. "You don't win technicalities in girl world."

She didn't answer. Because he was right.

It didn't matter who started what.

Kendra had lost something.

And it was Lea who took it.

Luca showed up at the end of her class, standing outside the hall with two iced coffees and a tired smile.

He wasn't loud or flashy. He didn't walk like he owned the room. He just stood there, hoodie sleeves pushed up, dark curls messy, eyes soft and steady like a promise no one else could make.

"You look like you haven't slept," he said, handing her the coffee.

"I haven't."

"You look like you're about to cry."

"I'm not."

"You always lie this bad?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm really good at other things though."

Luca smiled, just slightly. "You want to sit with me for a while?"

She did.

And for once, she didn't argue with herself about saying yes.

They sat on the steps outside the engineering building, sipping cold coffee in warm silence.

"I saw Zayne last night," Luca said eventually.

Lea's stomach dropped. "Okay?"

"He was bragging about something. Sounded like you."

She blinked. "What did he say?"

Luca didn't answer right away. "That he still has you. That he always will."

Lea's throat went dry.

"I'm not his," she said.

"You were never a thing to be owned," he replied.

But it hung between them anyway.

Because sometimes the past isn't something you carry. It's something that chases you.

Later that night, she ran into Kendra in the bathroom at a campus bar. Music thudded through the walls. The air smelled like tequila and hairspray.

Kendra was fixing her lip gloss in the mirror. Lea stepped out of the stall and froze.

Their eyes met.

Neither of them smiled.

"I'm not sorry," Lea said, before she could stop herself.

Kendra capped her gloss, turned slowly. "That's good. Because it wouldn't change anything."

"It was one kiss. One night."

"One too many."

"I thought you didn't even want him like that."

"I didn't," Kendra snapped. "But you knew he wanted you. And you let him. Like always."

Lea flinched.

Kendra stepped closer. Her voice dropped.

"You know the worst part? It's not that you touched him. It's that you didn't even think of me when you did."

"I did," Lea whispered. "I thought about how hurt you'd be. And I still did it anyway."

The silence after that was so thick it buzzed.

Kendra turned to leave.

"Did you tell him?" Lea asked.

Kendra paused.

"Tell who?"

"Zayne."

Kendra's eyes glittered. "Zayne doesn't care what I say. He doesn't care what you say either. He cares about winning. And you let him win, over and over again."

Then she was gone.

Back outside, the night air hit like a slap. The music inside blurred into static. Lea pulled her hoodie tighter around herself and started walking.

She passed the bookstore. The quad. The old oak tree where she'd sat with Luca just days ago.

And just like before, someone was standing there. In the dark. Half in shadow.

Same coat. Same stillness.

Same eyes.

He didn't move. Didn't blink.

And this time?

She saw him.

Her feet stopped moving. Her heart skipped.

The breath caught in her chest had nothing to do with Kendra. Nothing to do with Zayne.

Who the hell was this man?

He looked older. Mid-forties, maybe. Broad-shouldered. Tired. Familiar in a way she couldn't name.

A memory tugged at her ribs.

A photo in a drawer.

A voice from before everything broke.

Her phone buzzed.

Zayne.

"Come outside."

She looked back at the man.

He was gone.

Just like that.