Ethan’s perspective

  Date: April 11, 2025

  Friday: The First Real Move

  Ethan hadn’t expected Leo to make a move.

  But it didn’t surprise him either.

  So when he looked up from his screen and saw Leo dropping a coffee onto Ada’s desk, he wasn’t caught off guard.

  Just aware.

  “Morning, Spoon Girl,” Leo said, voice light, easy.

  Ethan kept his eyes on his screen, fingers still on his keyboard, but his attention sharpened.

  He heard Ada hesitate. “…Okay. What’s happening?”

  Leo shrugged, leaning against her desk. “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t just do things. You’re a menace. This is suspicious.”

  Leo grinned. “Can’t a guy do something nice for his favorite coworker?”

  Ethan barely had to think before he spoke.

  “Favorite?”

  It wasn’t a question. Not really.

  It was a push and Leo knew it.

  Ethan didn’t look at him, but he didn’t have to. He could feel the way Leo turned slightly, considering him.

  Leo smirked, shifting back to Ada. “See? Even Ethan agrees.”

  Ethan continued typing, voice even. “That’s not what I meant.”

  Leo tilted his head slightly, his tone dismissive, mocking, baiting, “doesn’t matter what you meant.”

  Ethan felt a pang of annoyance but he pushed it down.

  Because he knew that was exactly what Leo wanted.

  So he gave Leo nothing.

  After all, Leo would end up with nothing anyway. He might as well get used to it.

  Ethan just hummed. “Right. Just checking.”

  And then he went back to work.

  No more, no less.

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  Exactly what he intended.

  Leo had been looking for a bigger reaction. He wasn’t going to get one.

  Monday: What Leo Does Best

  Ethan didn’t see what happened in the hallway.

  But he heard about it.

  Two colleagues were talking near the coffee machine, their voices casual, amused.

  “Leo was at it again,” one of them said. “Cornered Ada in the hallway, flicked her badge, told her not to get ‘distracted.’”

  The other laughed. “That guy never stops.”

  It was idle office gossip. Background noise.

  To them.

  But Ethan knew exactly what Leo had done.

  Get a reaction. Pull people toward him. That was Leo’s move—always had been.

  And now that Ethan had decided not to back down, he knew he’d have to do something similar.

  Nothing obvious.

  Just enough.

  At the very least, he could be distracting.

  Tuesday: Distractions

  The breakroom was quiet.

  Just the two of them.

  Ethan leaned against the counter, waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. Ada was beside him, stirring sugar into hers, acting normal.

  Trying to, at least.

  “You look tired.”

  She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Wow, thanks.”

  Ethan didn’t look up. “Long night?”

  He could feel her hesitation. Could hear it in the way her spoon clinked once against her mug before she set it down.

  Then he spoke again.

  “You can ignore him, you know.”

  Soft. Matter-of-fact.

  Ada blinked. “What?”

  Ethan finally turned to her, tilting his head slightly. “Leo.”

  She stared at him, caught off guard.

  He took a slow sip of coffee, watching her. “You don’t owe him a reaction.”

  Ada scowled. “I don’t—”

  He hummed. “Mm. Sure.”

  And then—before she could process it—

  He reached out and fixed the collar of her shirt.

  A tiny thing. A barely-there touch.

  But very, very intentional.

  As his hand brushed against the fabric, he realized how close it was to her skin.

  It would be so easy.

  To let his fingers tilt her chin up.

  To trace his thumb against her cheek, just enough to feel the warmth there.

  To see if she’d let him.

  But not yet.

  Not yet.

  Instead, he let go, as if it meant nothing.

  Then, as if he hadn’t just done that, he grabbed his coffee and walked away.

  Leaving Ada standing there.

  Letting it sink in.

  Ethan didn’t need to turn back to know she was still thinking about it.

  Wednesday: Games

  Leo was doing it on purpose.

  Ethan knew it.

  And the fact that Leo was rattled? That was exactly what Ethan wanted.

  Because it meant something had shifted.

  Leo wasn’t acting like someone who was winning. He was acting like he was marking territory.

  Loudly.

  Repeatedly.

  “Spoon Girl.” In the hallway. In the breakroom. During lunch.

  Every time, Leo’s eyes flicked—just slightly—in Ethan’s direction.

  Like he was waiting for something.

  Ethan didn’t give it to him.

  He kept his expression unreadable. He didn’t react.

  Because he knew Leo was an idiot when he lost his temper.

  And Ethan had a feeling Ada would find that more annoying than impressive.

  Ethan acknowledged that Leo was a problem, but he wasn’t worried.

  Not yet.

  Because the way Ada reacted to Ethan, the way she hesitated, the way she stilled told him everything he needed to know.

  Leo could be as loud as he wanted.

  Ethan didn’t need to be.

  Because in the end?

  Ada would figure it out on her own.

  And when she did—

  Ethan would be there.

  After all, if you play stupid games…