It’s like being shoved into ice water. My thoughts stutter, trip over each other, refuse to make sense.
Booked?
Appointment?
Before I can form a single reply, Tyler steps closer, his eyes narrowing as they flick between me and Ashley. He taps my shoulder sharply.
“Who the hell is Alexander?”
My gut twists… I open my mouth. Close it. Not like a word would come out anyway.
Fuck… it came out with Alex.
Ashley doesn’t seem fazed. She watches me with a patience that makes my skin itch, like she already predicted this scene. But I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.
Alexander booked an appointment.
For my hearing aids.
A rush of heat floods my chest, tightening around my lungs. It isn’t just shock, it’s the weight of it. The fact that he thought to do this. That he dared.
I lick my lips and finally grab the phone from Tyler’s hand, my fingers stiff.
Is this some joke?I type and shove the screen toward her.
Ashley reads it, then tilts her head slightly, professional calm never cracking.
“Definitely not. I can call him on video if you’d like to speak to him directly.”
My stomach lurches. The last thing I want is to see his face or talk to him—not after the news about the murder, not after the fact that I know I have some kind of attraction towards him, despite everything.
Anger, confusion, something jagged I can’t name. They all knot together until I can’t breathe right. One thing cuts throughthe blur, though: Alexander Petrov is prying open pieces of my life he has no right to touch. And I have no idea how to stop him.
Tyler glances between us like she’s some riddle he’s desperate to crack. I take a shaky breath, then grab his wrist and sign, Tell her we need a minute. He doesn’t hesitate. He turns toward Ashley and says, a little awkwardly,
“Uh, can you wait outside for a sec?” His hand moves in a clumsy imitation of my signing.
Ashley only nods, as unruffled as ever. Tyler shuts the door firmly. The second it’s closed, he whirls on me.
“Who the hell is Alexander?”
I drag a hand through my hair, exhaustion already sinking into my bones.
“Someone I met.”
His expression twists with disbelief.
“You met?”
“Not like that,” sign sharply.
He raises a brow.“Then like what?”
I let out a breath, the weight of it sagging in my chest.
“It’s… complicated.”
Tyler crosses his arms, eyebrows raised. “Then uncomplicate it.”
