"Anastasia, did you think that I was going to kiss Hayley?" Elliot asked, his voice low and probing, his gaze holding mine as if trying to read the instinct beneath my composure.
The moment the name Hayley Seymour reached my ears, something inside me tightened and recoiled, my inner instincts reacting before reason could settle. I let a faint smirk form, deliberately distancing myself as I answered in a tone that carried no claim and no invitation. "Whether you two kiss or not is your business." My posture remained steady, but the subtle shift in my energy made it clear I had withdrawn from the subject entirely.
