14-06-2025, 05:49 AM
“I’ll bring dessert,” he said,
voice softer now. “Something sweet to follow your main course.”
At that, her expression shifted—something warmer, deeper, flickering behind her eyes.
As if she heard what he wasn’t saying.
As if she felt it too.
She stepped closer.
He caught the scent of jasmine again, this time mingled with the sun-warmed skin of her neck.
Their mats hung at their sides like afterthoughts.
She stopped just in front of him, close enough that her shoulder brushed his arm, close enough that their breath met halfway between them.
“I’ll see you at eight,” she said.
But she didn’t leave right away.
Her gaze lingered on his mouth before drifting up again, as if deciding something in the quiet of her own thoughts.
Then, with a slow, fluid movement, she leaned in—her lips pressing lightly to his cheek.
Not a peck. Not quite a kiss.
It was deliberate. Warm. Lingering just long enough to make his breath stutter in his throat.
And when she pulled away—just slightly—he turned his face instinctively toward her, caught in the gravity of her.
For one heartbeat, their lips hovered too close. Not touching, but full of everything that might.
Then she smiled.
Not the teasing one she wore when she corrected his poses.
This smile was quieter.
Older.
Like a secret.
And without a word more, she turned and walked toward the stairwell.
Her hips moved with that easy confidence that needed no audience.
But he watched anyway, each step taking her farther and yet leaving something behind with him—an imprint, a promise.
She didn’t look back.
She didn’t need to.
Because whatever had started that morning… it wasn’t ending with goodbye.
---
voice softer now. “Something sweet to follow your main course.”
At that, her expression shifted—something warmer, deeper, flickering behind her eyes.
As if she heard what he wasn’t saying.
As if she felt it too.
She stepped closer.
He caught the scent of jasmine again, this time mingled with the sun-warmed skin of her neck.
Their mats hung at their sides like afterthoughts.
She stopped just in front of him, close enough that her shoulder brushed his arm, close enough that their breath met halfway between them.
“I’ll see you at eight,” she said.
But she didn’t leave right away.
Her gaze lingered on his mouth before drifting up again, as if deciding something in the quiet of her own thoughts.
Then, with a slow, fluid movement, she leaned in—her lips pressing lightly to his cheek.
Not a peck. Not quite a kiss.
It was deliberate. Warm. Lingering just long enough to make his breath stutter in his throat.
And when she pulled away—just slightly—he turned his face instinctively toward her, caught in the gravity of her.
For one heartbeat, their lips hovered too close. Not touching, but full of everything that might.
Then she smiled.
Not the teasing one she wore when she corrected his poses.
This smile was quieter.
Older.
Like a secret.
And without a word more, she turned and walked toward the stairwell.
Her hips moved with that easy confidence that needed no audience.
But he watched anyway, each step taking her farther and yet leaving something behind with him—an imprint, a promise.
She didn’t look back.
She didn’t need to.
Because whatever had started that morning… it wasn’t ending with goodbye.
---