Buried Echoes

sharp and deliberate, trailing my every move. Fucking pest. I don't dare glance back, but my mind is already calculating, piecing together the danger of this moment. He looked at me like h

moment I show my hand, I lose. So I do what I do best. I lie. I step closer, just enough to make it look deliberate, just enough for the scent of expensive whiskey and something distinctly him to reach me. "And if I am this Maya you speak of... what then?" His smirk deepens, but his eyes stay cold. Calculating. "Then I'd say you owe me a dance." A laugh escapes me before I can stop it, soft and dangerous. "Is that all?" "For now." There's weight behind those words, a promise of something more. Something inevitable. I should walk away. I should cut my losses and disappear into the crowd But, I don't Instead, I extend a hand, my lips curving in a slow, taunting smirk. "Then by all means, let's not keep you waiting, Pest." His expression flickers. For the first time, I see it--the break in his control. It lasts barely a second, a twitch of his jaw, a sharp inhale. But I see it. And I know he remembers. Mia and I always called him that. Because no matter how much we tried to shake him off, no matter how many times we dismissed him, Tobi was always there. Hovering. Watching. Pushing us to be better. Something dark flashes in his eyes, but then it's gone, replaced by a slow deliberate smirk. He takes my hand, his grip firm, unshaken. "As you wish." As we step onto the dance floor, the music shifts slow and deliberate, a haunting melody that winds through the air like a secret waiting to be spilled. Tobi pulls me closer, his grip firm but not forceful, his fingers resting against the small of my back as if he has every right to touch me. I allow it, meeting his gaze with cool indifference, even as my pulse betrays me with its steady, calculated beat. This is a game. One we both know how to play. "You're quiet," he murmurs, leading me into the first turn of the dance. "Not like you." I tilt my head, my smirk sharp. "You know nothing about me pest." The dance moves us across the floor, a seamless display of practiced elegance. To anyone watching, we are nothing more than two strangers enjoying a fleeting moment. "Why are you here, Tobi?" I murmur, barely above