Chapter 163

When I walked into Zig's, the buzz of tattoo machines was humming through the air. Zig and Addy were hunched over clients, hyper-focused, but their heads still lifted the second I stepped in. Xander was slouched at my station with his long legs stretched out, a...'lunchbox?' in his lap and chopsticks in hand. All three of them looked up and gave me that look.

Concerned. Curious.

I stopped just inside the doorway, dropped my bag to the floor with a small thud. “Jeez,” I muttered, my voice dry, “who died?”

Zig blinked at me while Addy just gave me a small shrug and went back to shading. Xander, on the other hand, continued chewing while his eyes followed me like I was some tragic animal in a nature documentary.

I sighed and walked over to him, nudging his feet off my chair with a lazy kick. “I’m gone for a few hours and you’re already stealing my station? ”

He lifted the lunchbox and gave it a proud little tilt. “Didn’t wanna get crumbs on mine. Gotta keep up appearances.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned in to peek at the food.

" The hell is that?"

“ Korean barbecue with rice and kimchi. "

I asked him where he got it from and he said he'd made it, earning a scoff from me.

" Since when do you cook?”

He smirked, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. “Decided to test how magical my hands really are. Turns out...very.”

I gave him a flat look and snatched the food from him, taking a bite. The second the meat hit my tongue, I blinked. Then blinked again.

“ The fuck?” I said, staring down at it like it had personally betrayed me. “Why is this actually good?”

“Told you. Magical,” he said, reclining back and watching me way too closely.

I took another bite, slower this time. It was annoyingly delicious.

When I looked up, he was still staring.

I frowned. “What?”

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Nothing,’ I echoed, chewing.

He didn’t say anything for a second. Just sat there with this patience that didn’t suit him. Then he opened his mouth again, but I cut in before he could get a word out.

“If you’re so curious,” I said, lifting my gaze to meet his, “we can do a Q&A round. God knows there’s answers I’ve been dying to plough from you anyway.”

He raised both hands like I’d just aimed a gun at him. “ I was actually never even curious to begin with.”

I smiled faintly and looked back down at the food. “ Coward.”

By the time Addy wrapped up with her client, I’d gotten through most of Xander’s stupidly delicious food and half a sketch for a flash design I probably wasn’t going to use.

I clocked her the second she wandered over, a knowing gleam in her eyes. Without missing a beat, she settled on Xander’s lap like it was her throne and he was just the furniture. Then reached over and swiped the lunchbox straight from my hands.

“What the actual hell, Xan?” she huffed, glaring as she inspected the contents. “I told you to save me some. This is like... two bites and a crumb.”

“I didn’t give it to her,” he said, completely unbothered. “She mugged me.”

Addy ate the two remaining bites, then gave me a once-over, eyes narrowing like she was scanning for bullet holes or some invisible fracture line. “Okay,” she said. “Now that my mouth’s slightly happy, what the hell happened Saturday night?”

There it was.

Not wrapped in caution like Xander’s question had been. Just dropped bluntly on the table like a grenade, ticking.

I leaned back in my chair, feigning ease. “It’s nothing.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna fly with me,” she said, handing the empty lunchbox back to Xander with a dramatic sigh. “Considering the weekend I had”, she shot him a dagger of a look, “I deserve something else to focus on.”

I squinted. “Why? What happened?”

“Ask him.” Her tone was sugary, but her side-eye could cut glass. “This asshole got me so wasted I’m still trying to crawl back to the land of the living.”

Xander lifted a brow. “I didn’t get you wasted. You drank willingly.”

“Oh please,” she said. “ I blacked out. I don’t even remember how I got home. And you were just as drunk as me so I don't get how–”

“Can we circle back to the part where Layla's being interrogated?” he quickly cut in. Addy pointed a suspicious finger at him before turning back to me.

“Adam tried to call me like twenty times Saturday,” she said.

Xander nodded. “Same here.”

I sighed and looked down at the table, spinning my pencil between my fingers. “My brain did that thing again,” I said finally. “ Logic exited the building and I just... run.”

She blinked. “From Adam?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Xan asked. “Did he say something? Do something?”

I shook my head quickly. “No. He didn’t do anything. It was me just being me. You guys know how I get. No catalyst required. ”

“ Nah, you don’t explode for no reason,” he said quietly. I wasn't going to tell them the truth, not about this, but lying to these two felt like trying to paint over glass with mud, pointless and painfully see-through. They could easily read the shifts in my tone, the weight behind my smile.

“ We talked so it's cool now. And I told him I need some time. For myself. To try and get better.”

“Wait... are you on a break?” she asked.

I considered that. The word felt weird. Unfamiliar. But accurate. “Sort of. Not officially. We’re still... us. Just not in the same space physically. ”

“What triggered it?” Xander asked again, eyes narrowing slightly. “Why the spiral this time?”

Damn our closeness! I hesitated.

“I don’t know,” I lied. “Maybe because things were good. Too good. I think I’ve got a mental allergy to happiness. But I’m working on it. Like, seriously this time.”

They were both quiet for a second.

Then I added, softly, “Maybe if I fix myself... Adam and I can have a normal relationship.”

A guy stepped in through the front doors. In his hands was a bouquet, dozens of deep red roses bunched up with sprigs of baby’s breath and just enough greenery to make it look expensive.

“Uh...Layla Stevens?”

I blinked before slowly raising my hand.

He gave a small nod, “Delivery for you.”

I stood, brushing my hands on my thighs as I walked over. He held out a tiny digital pad for me to sign, and I scribbled something vaguely resembling my name, then took the bouquet from him carefully.

It was surprisingly heavy.

I turned back toward the table as Addy leaned forward and plucked something from between the flowers.

“There’s a card.”

I took it from her and slid the card out slowly, suddenly aware that my heart was beating way too fast.

" Day 1. I already miss you. "

I bit my lip, trying not to grin like an idiot. It didn’t really work. The tight coil of anxiety I’d been dragging around all morning loosened just enough for me to breathe a little easier.