Desired by All and He Threw Away 70

Chapter 70 

Taylor’s POV 

+25 Bonus 

The silence stretches longer than it should. Three days now maybe four i have stopped counting Each one drifts by in a haze of polite exchanges and unread messages the kind of silence that isn’t empty but full- dense charged waiting for someone to break it. 

neither of us does.Aiden and I talk only when we have to. A few words about reports. Updates on Dylan. Logistics. 

Nothing else.his messages come through clean and professional trimmed of anything that could be mistaken for 

warmth. 

and yet i still find myself reading them twice even three times searching for something that isnt there a flicker of hesitation a slip in his tone a sign that maybe that night still lingers for him too. 

but it doesnt. 

Or maybe he’s just better at hiding it. 

the camp feels heavier without the easy rhythm we used to have.the coffee machine hums in the background the faint hiss of steam filling the air but even that feels louder in the quiet. 

i type,delete and retype the same lines in my report my eyes blurring over words that have lost meaning. 

Keira doesn’t help. 

“Come on, Taylor,” she says, leaning against the edge of my desk with that smug grin that makes me want to throw my pen at her. “A guy doesn’t look at you like that unless there’s something there.” 

I don’t even glance up. ” he wasnt looking at me like anything.” 

she laughs the sound bright and teasing breaking through the dull hum of the office. “Please. You two were practically having a whole silent movie moment at the gala. All that tension–you could’ve charged phones with it.” 

i drop my pen and exhaling slowly. “its not like that.we are just working together.” 

“sure,” she says, drawing out the word like she is humoring a child. “And I only drink coffee for the health benefits.” 

I shoot her a look. “Keira.” 

“What?” Her eyes sparkle, shameless. ” im just saying. i have seen the way he looks at you. It’s not ‘just working together.“” 

i roll my eyes but the back of my neck burns anyway. ” he looks at everyone like that. It’s his resting football face.” 

Keira grins wider. ” if thats his resting face i would hate to see what his interested one looks like.” 

i toss a crumpled sticky note at her which she dodges with a laugh before pushing off my desk. ” fine deny it all you want.But I know what I saw.” 

1/2 

Chapter 

when she finally leaves the quiet settles again.my chest tightens with the weight of everything im pretending not to feel. 

i try to focus on the files spread across my desk the interview notes,fragments of statements screenshots of old messages from Dylan’s teammates.but the words swim in and out of focus, 

the stories i have gathered paint the same picture again and againza man who manipulates with precision who knows how to make people doubt their own memories.the more i dig the darker it gets. 

One of the players told me Dylan used to push boundaries “just to see who’d break first.” Another mentioned a string of ex–girlfriends–women who all sound like different variations of the same heartbreak. 

I should be angry. I should feel vindicated.but all i feel is tired. 

because every time i read Dylan’s name i remember how close i came to being another one of his stories. How he twisted everyone trust, my words, their career into something small and ugly. 

i promised myself that i would never let anyone have that kind of hold over me again. 

And yet–Aiden. 

the thought slips in before i can stop it.his hand around my waist steadying me when my whole body wanted to give way.the warmth of his breath against my ear.the quiet way he said i did fine like the words were meant for me alone. 

i squeeze my eyes shut and shake the memory loose. No.this isnt the time for that. 

instead i drown myself in work.i chase every lead i schedule every interview, cross reference every name on Dylan’s contact list until my brain feels scraped raw. Anything to fill the space that’s grown between me and 

Aiden. 

but distance has a way of expanding even when you try to ignore it. 

at night when im home the silence presses in harder.the glow from my laptop spills across the kitchen counter washing everything in pale light. 

,the air smells faintly of coffee gone cold and the bitter scent clinging to the back of my throat.my phone sits beside me face down and screen black.i tell myself not to check it. 

D 

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