Chapter 4 That's Not What I Heard
Tasha’s POV
“THAT DIDN’T happen,” Carlos said firmly after a moment.
I slowly lifted my eyes toward his face and it was a big mistake.
Because for someone insisting he was unaffected, Carlos suddenly looked painfully aware of every inch of space between us.
His jaw was tight enough that I could see the muscle flexing slightly beneath his skin. His shoulders looked too rigid beneath his racing uniform, and his gaze kept flickering toward my mouth before snapping away again like he was irritated at himself for noticing.
That tiny detail alone almost made me smile.
“Right,” I said carefully, folding my arms loosely across my chest mostly to stop myself from touching my lips. “Because you look very unaffected right now.”
His eyes narrowed immediately.
“I am unaffected,” he replied quickly, almost too quickly. “Why would I be?” he added with a scoff.
The denial came so fast that it sounded rehearsed. Which only made it worse for him.
I tilted my head slightly while studying him properly. “Then you should probably tell that to your face,” I said quietly. “Because right now, you look like you’re trying very hard to convince yourself instead of me.”
For a second, he just stared at me. Something sharp flickered behind his eyes before he exhaled slowly through his nose and stepped back half a pace like distance alone would help him regain control.
“You’re making it into something it’s not,” he muttered.
I blinked at him. “I’m not making it into anything. You’re the one repeating the same sentence like your life depends on it.”
“It was an accident.”
“But accidents still happen,” I pointed out lightly.
That seemed to throw him off more than if I had argued. He blinked once, clearly expecting me to make a bigger deal out of it.
Honestly, I probably should have. Instead, I just shrugged slightly and reached for the cloth lying on the table beside me, pretending to wipe grease off my fingers even though my hands were already clean.
“People bump into each other,” I continued casually. “It’s not exactly a tragedy.”
Carlos stayed quiet for a moment after that. If anything, the silence between us suddenly felt tighter.
Then his eyes settled on me again, slower this time. And for some reason, the way he looked at me now felt different from earlier. It looked aware. Painfully aware.
Which was dangerous.
Because the more he looked at me like that, the more impossible it became to ignore the fact that my heartbeat still hadn’t calmed down.
“Good,” he said eventually, his voice steadier now. “Then we’re clear.”
“Crystal clear,” I said and another silence settled between us.
And honestly? I hated how aware I still was of him standing there, of how unfairly attractive he looked in that stupid racing uniform.
It was annoying, completely unnecessary, and deeply inconvenient.
I forced myself to look away first but the moment I did, I noticed several students pretending not to stare at us from across the bay and whispers immediately rose when they realized I noticed them.
Fantastic.
I let out a quiet breath and rubbed the cloth between my fingers absentmindedly. “It didn’t mean anything,” I whispered under my breath.
I could still feel his gaze on me. Like he hadn’t actually moved on from it either.
Before I could think too deeply about that, a smooth familiar voice suddenly cut through the tension.
“Well,” Bianca Laurent said lightly, “that was unexpected.”
I closed my eyes briefly and turned my head slowly as Bianca walked toward us with the kind of effortless confidence only rich beautiful girls seemed born with.
Bianca’s eyes landed on me first. Then shifted toward Carlos.
“Oh,” she continued with a faint smile. “I heard there was a little scene. I didn’t realize people meant an actual kiss.”
A few students nearby suddenly became very interested in organizing tools.
I straightened slightly and forced my expression into something neutral. “Nothing worth talking about,” I said evenly.
Bianca smiled politely. Which somehow felt worse than if she’d openly insulted me. “Of course not,” she replied smoothly.
She didn’t believe me. Her attention shifted fully toward Carlos then, and her expression softened just enough to look natural as she stepped closer to him.
“Are you okay?” she asked gently.
Her hand slid along his arm possessively like it belonged there.
I looked away immediately.
“I’m fine,” Carlos answered, his voice slipping back into that controlled tone he used like armor.
“Good,” Bianca murmured softly, her fingers still resting against him. “I’d hate for unnecessary distractions to affect your focus.”
There it was.
The insult hidden neatly beneath expensive perfume and a polite smile.
I kept my attention on the engine beside me and tightened a bolt that didn’t actually need tightening.
“Some people,” Bianca continued lightly, “don’t always understand how things work here.”
I glanced up slowly. Her gaze was on me again now. Calm on the surface but sharp underneath.
“I’ll figure it out eventually,” I replied.
She tilted her head slightly. “I’m sure you think you will.”
Something inside my chest tightened.
Bianca stepped a little closer toward me then, lowering her voice just enough that only the three of us could hear her properly.
“Just be careful,” she said sweetly. “Some things aren’t meant for people like you.”
My brows furrowed. “People like me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
Bianca smirked. “You know…” she trailed, looking at me from head to toe. “People like you who seemed to be hiding behind something.”
My chest heaved at what she said. No, she couldn’t be referring to that.
For a second, the entire room seemed to quiet around me. Bianca genuinely believed there were people born to belong here and people who should stay beneath them.
I held her gaze anyway. “I’m not hiding anything,” I answered calmly.
“Well, that’s not what I heard, sweetie,” she said gently.
“Bianca, this is not the right place for that,” Carlos immediately said.
Bianca looked at him. “I know. Just like her being in the wrong place,” she said and laughed. “Come on, you don’t need to stay here.”
Carlos didn’t move right away. His gaze flicked toward me briefly again, unreadable and heavy enough to make my stomach tighten before his jaw hardened slightly.
Then he finally stepped back.
“See you around,” Bianca said lightly before guiding him away.
I just nodded once because my mind has started to race to something else. But I still watched them walk away together. Her hand wrapped around his arm. His expression carefully unreadable.
The two of them looked like they belonged in this world naturally.
Unlike me that hid from something.
I looked back down at the engine in front of me and forced myself to focus on something real. Something mechanical. Because machines made sense.
People didn’t. Especially not Carlos Santiago.
“Get it together,” I muttered quietly under my breath.
This wasn’t why I came here. I came here for Vanguard, for engineering, for racing. Not for complicated boys with dangerous eyes and girlfriends who looked at me like I was dirt stuck to their designer shoes.
I wiped my hands clean and stepped away from the workstation before my thoughts could spiral any further.
I need to call Old Man Reyes, I said in my mind as the anxiety started to creep in once again.