Later, in the restaurant, between laughter and jokes, Lía received a call from Leo. She got up from the table with the excuse of going to the bathroom and went to the back door of the premises. She exchanged a glance with Mila, it was the sign that she would leave without saying goodbye.

  As she looked at the bright moon, she let out a soft sigh. Mila joined her shortly after, handing her the backpack. Before Lía could say a word, Mila murmured:

  "You don't need to explain it. After what happened with Claudia, it's obvious that Leo is probably drunk, waiting near your house to vent. What you two have... It's too complicated. Sometimes I don't understand why they are no longer a couple. You do so much for him... And we all know you love him."

  Sadness was written all over Lía 's face. She forced a smile and said:

  "That's something that's never going to happen. If anyone asks, tell them that my brother called me. I've already sent Sara my share. We'll talk later, Mila. Say goodbye to everyone for me."

  As she drove away to find a taxi, Mila looked at her with a mixture of frustration and sadness. Looking up at the moon, he whispered:

  "Keep it going... Your daughter is trapped in a relationship that doesn't even exist."

  A few minutes later, Lía found Leo, drunk, standing in front of the wrong house.

  "You've forgotten again that you don't live here anymore," she said sweetly, running to him. "Come on, let's go to your house. Your grandmother must be worried."

  Leo lived with his parents, grandmother and little sister. His relationship with his parents was strained: they argued constantly, and divorce seemed inevitable. His younger sister was not his father's daughter, and his mother's affair had left him with a deep wound. Maybe that's why he clung to Claudia, even though he didn't love her anymore. Trying to understand his true feelings was like chasing ghosts... A waste of energy.

  Lía tried to help him up, but Leo collapsed again, muttering:

  "I need to go to the bathroom... I can't take it anymore, Lía.

  And suddenly, he started urinating. The most handsome boy in the class, pouting like a child, completely vulnerable in front of his childhood friend. She couldn't help but laugh as she helped him up and guided him home.

  Once inside, Leo took off his pants. For some strange reason, he seemed to forget that Lía was a woman; Sometimes, he treated her like just another man. Lia, meanwhile, tried not to look, her cheeks flushed with pain. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but it still made her nervous.

  She took him to the shower, his clothes still on. Though she tried to look away, the wet shirt clung to his shoulders and chest, outlining a body sculpted by daily runs. A body that, more than once, had starred in her loneliest and coldest midnight fantasies.

  Seeing him standing in the shower with his clothes soaked—that same white shirt that, just hours before, had highlighted his skin tone—now subtly clung to the contours of his chest. His defined muscles were undeniably seductive, and it was hard not to fantasize about crossing the line.

  At that moment, Lia spoke loudly without realizing it:

  "Why do you always do this to me, Leo?"

  Before she could react, Leo's weight fell on her, soaking her as well. For a brief moment, her lips were a few millimeters away from touching his right cheek, and his chin, as if guided by fate and gravity, rested on her shoulder. Then Leo put his arms around her and whispered:

  "I love you too much, Lia... never abandon me."

  A shiver ran through her, from the base of her neck to her hips. Hearing those words at that precise moment released something inside her: she was not only soaked in water, but in her own longing. But she had to be strong. I couldn't ruin it all for an impulsive night.

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  Despite being completely soaked, she drew strength from inside and, with cold determination, pulled him out of the shower and into the guest room. There, she dried him and gave him part of her father's clothes.

  The two walked trembling. The cold had calmed Leo down, at least a little. As she sat him down at the foot of the bed, Lía said:

  "Leo, I'll leave you some of my dad's clothes and bring you a coffee. Try to dry off with towels and take off everything you're wearing."

  Instinctively, Leo began to undress like a child following commands while sleeping. Lía quickly covered him with a blanket and added:

  "If you get sick, I'm not going to help you study for final exams."

  Then she left the room, closing the door behind her. Her heart was racing wildly. Not only her heart, her whole body trembled. She was soaked and blushing; She could barely breathe. The sound of her heartbeat and the trembling in her legs were overwhelming. But I had to stay calm. Leo needed her now.

  She went to the kitchen and started making coffee. She sneezed involuntarily: although she had taken off her sweatshirt, her pants and T-shirt were still a little wet. She had to change soon, but first she brought the coffee to Leo, who was still naked under the covers.

  Lía gently helped him to sit up, and as she held the cup for him, she sang softly:

  "Coffee is here... Coffee is here... for the dear little Lord..."

  Lía had the strange habit of inventing songs. Her playful and tender side had endured over the years, even after the accident that had left her unable to sing professionally.

  Leo drank as if it were an order. Then, she tucked him in again and went to the bathroom. She sank into the hot water of the shower, determined not to catch a cold... and let her mind sink, if only for a moment, into her deepest thoughts and her most forbidden fantasies.

  As she stood in the shower, her naked body relaxed under the warm water. The feeling of being there gave her a subtle and constant pleasure. At that moment, her mind was invaded by the image of Leo, soaking wet, standing in that very spot just a few minutes ago. The memory lit up her face with a deep blush and sent a tremor through her body. Her breasts, hardened not only by the water but by the growing excitement, were now caressed by her own hands, soft at first, then overcome by desire. In her mind, it wasn't her hands... they were from Leo.

  Leo's hands were large, strong, with slightly red knuckles. When he held a pen, he gripped it so tightly that the veins in his forearm stood on end. Lía now imagined those same hands squeezing her breasts firmly. she remembered his voice whispering "I love you" and how that deep, tender tone had become one of her secret addictions. She could listen to it for hours.

  Without realizing it, one of her hands began to slowly slide down her stomach, reaching her most intimate place. The memory of his voice, of that moment underwater, drove her crazy. Her fingers moved on their own, sometimes gently, sometimes intensely, until a moan escaped her lips, breaking the silence of the shower. That unleashed harshness released all the pleasure she had been containing, without restraint or measure. It was no longer her hands, it was Leo, the one from her fantasies, leaving his mark from the depths of her mind to the surface of her skin.

  Biting her lips was just the beginning of an intimate ritual. Panting for air, she put her right hand to her mouth, biting and licking it, while her left continued to caress her breasts with frantic caresses. The desperate need to feel the true touch of the man who owns her soul made her hand descend again, this time to her clitoris. The contact triggered another groan, once again muffled by the other hand in the mouth. As she ran through the entrance to her vagina, a warm, moist heat emerged from inside, mixing with the water. It continued until her body arched into a deep climax, releasing a wave of groans and an all-consuming peace.

  "If only I could live in my fantasies," she whispered breathlessly.

  She sat up slowly and began to dry herself. With her right hand, she wiped the steam-covered mirror and looked at her reflection with a mixture of sadness and self-reproach. It pained her to know that she was a prisoner of her own fantasies, a slave to a love that had grown with her, a love for a man who was not only the owner of her heart... but also her most intense desires.

  Upon entering her room, Lía noticed that her phone was still on silent mode, something that hadn't helped her avoid what was about to happen. Mila and Alfredo had decided to go home to continue the celebration, taking Sara and the admissions assistant, a young man named Cael, with them.

  Cael was tall, with brown hair, and wore large glasses that hid his light brown eyes. He always seemed to wear the same clothes, or at least, that's how it seemed to Lía. Honestly, they hadn't even noticed his existence until they was already on they way home. It was clear that Mila and Sara were interested in him, although Lía could not understand what they saw in this apathetic man who barely made a sound.

  As she went through the messages and reflected on Cael, Lía suddenly remembered something important: Leo was asleep in the next room. And very few people knew that Cael was related to Claudia... or at least, that's what Leo had told her months ago. Panic took hold of her. She immediately texted Mila, begging her not to use the key and to ring the doorbell instead. She prayed that Mila would read the message before any misunderstanding occurred.

  She quickly donned a light bra, an oversized short-sleeved T-shirt, and comfortable nightpants, then headed to the room where Leo was. He had taken off all his clothes and was only covered by a sheet, barely. The vision froze her for a moment, but she broke free of it and tried to wake him.

  —"Leo! Wake up. In less than twenty minutes, Cael, Mila, Alfredo, and the gossipy queen Sara will be here. But above all Cael. If he sees you around here... if he will tell Claudia..."

  Leo, half asleep, murmured:

  "Claudia broke up with me, so I don't care about Cael. Also, What kind of name is Cael?

  Lía thought to herself, You say that now, but later you'll be crying and telling me that I should have stopped you, that Claudia is the love of your life...

  In a loud voice, she said:

  "Leo, stop talking nonsense. You always break up and then get back together. Get dressed before it's too late. Maybe you should go... or I'll have to kick you out.

  Leo pouted.

  "Are you really going to abandon me?"

  Lia's heart, not because of what he said, but because she heard the sound of the keys in the lock. It was clear that Mila was too drunk to check her messages. Leo was still basically naked. What was she supposed to do?

  She leaned over to him and whispered firmly:

  "You stay here, quietly, and sleeping until tomorrow. Either you do it right, or I'll throw you out the window."

  Leo opened a dark eye and said clearly:

  "Yes, captain.

  Lía found it funny, but also surprising. Had he been pretending to be asleep all this time? But that wasn't her main concern at the time. She needed to make sure that everyone left quickly, and more importantly, that no one opened that door.