Leo’s Perspective

  Date: March 8, 2025

  Monday: A Reaction Worth Filing Away

  Leo wasn’t thinking much when he brought up the weekend.

  It was just another jab, another way to get a rise out of Ada—because teasing her was fun, and watching her get flustered was even better.

  “Spoon Girl here crashed my game.”

  It was an easy line. Casual. Delivered with the same effortless grin he always wore.

  But when Ethan stilled, barely noticeable to anyone else, Leo caught it, and filed it away.

  Ethan rarely reacted to anything. And that?

  That was interesting.

  Wednesday: The Moment That Caught Him Off Guard

  Leo had meant to fix her code and leave.

  It was muscle memory—he had done it a hundred times before for other juniors, for teammates, for anyone who was too slow for his liking.

  But then Ada looked up and something shifted.

  He hadn’t realized how close he was until that moment, until her gaze locked onto his, until the air between them felt too charged, too heavy.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Leo didn’t move.

  Didn’t smirk.

  Didn’t say a damn thing.

  Because for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t sure what to say.

  Her breath caught just slightly, so small that most people wouldn’t have noticed.

  But he noticed.

  And suddenly, Leo was very aware of everything.

  How close they were.

  How easy it would be to lean in just a little more.

  How something between them felt like it was tipping, like a scale about to shift, like a line about to be crossed.

  He forced himself backwards, yanking his focus out from the moment as hard as he could, but before he could fully recover, Priya’s voice cut through the air.

  “Leo, are you flirting with Ada?”

  Leo felt his head turn so fast it was almost embarrassing.

  Not because of Priya.

  But because he was still recovering from whatever the hell that was.

  His usual grin snapped into place like a reflex. Too sharp. Too quick. “Hey, HR says I’ve gotta cut it out.”

  The office laughed. The moment passed. At least that’s what Leo told himself.

  As Leo leaned back in his chair, rolling his shoulders, stretching like nothing had happened, he pretended to be thinking about the code on his screen.

  Pretended that he hadn’t just felt something shift.

  Pretended that he wasn’t trying to shake it off.

  Friday: The Rooftop Shift

  It should have been a normal night.

  Drinks, fairy lights, good food. The kind of low-effort office outing Leo usually enjoyed.

  Then basketball came up because, of course, Leo wasn’t about to let Ada live it down.

  “I still can’t believe Ada nearly took out my friend,” he said, grinning. “Might have to recruit her full-time.”

  And that’s when Ethan spoke.

  “You seem awfully invested in Ada’s basketball career.”

  Leo turned, and for a fraction of a second, just long enough to notice, but not long enough to call out, something flickered between them.

  Not banter.

  Not the usual back-and-forth.

  Something else.

  Leo cocked his head slightly, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Maybe I just like seeing her outside of work.”

  And there it was.The pushback.

  The message, sent.

  Ethan took a slow sip of his drink, his gaze steady, calculating.

  Message received.

  Leo barely resisted the urge to smirk.

  Ethan was interested.

  And Leo?

  Leo loved competition.

  End-of-Day Thoughts

  Later that night, as he lay in bed, staring at his ceiling, Leo let out a slow breath.

  He wasn’t overthinking.

  He didn’t do that.

  But something about this week lingered.

  The moment at Ada’s desk.

  The way Ethan had pushed back.

  The shift.

  Leo wasn’t an idiot.

  Something was different now.

  And whether it was about Ada or about Ethan or about himself, he wasn’t ready to name it yet.

  But he could feel it.

  And whatever it was?

  He wasn’t about to back down.