Leo’s Perspective

  Date: April 5, 2025

  Monday: Playing It Cool

  Leo wasn’t sure what he expected.

  After Friday—after the bar, after that moment—he figured there’d be a shift. A hesitation. A glance that lingered too long. Some confirmation that he hadn’t imagined it.

  So when Monday morning came, and Ada walked into the office—unbothered, composed, normal—

  Leo did the same.

  Because he always made sure that he was never the first to fold.

  He leaned back in his chair, easy, effortless, like nothing had changed.

  “Morning, Spoon Girl.”

  She blinked, hesitating for just a second. “You’re… acting normal.”

  Leo grinned. “I’m always normal. Why? You want me to start acting weird?”

  She frowned, like she was trying to figure something out, and he had to fight the urge to smirk.

  She was watching him.

  It was disconcerting to say that least because for once, he wasn’t the only one doing the watching.

  Thursday: The Moment That Threw Him Off

  Leo hadn’t planned on staying late.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  But the sprint deadline was closing in, and now that his desk was next to Ada’s, he ended up there without thinking about it.

  He was in the middle of reviewing his own code when he glanced over.

  Ada was hunched over her laptop, fingers moving steadily, her brows furrowed in concentration.

  She was making that face—the one that meant she was deep in problem-solving mode, the one he’d seen before when she was too stubborn to let something go.

  He wasn’t sure why it made him grin.

  “You’ve got the look,” he said, sounding way too amused for someone who had no idea what she was dealing with.

  Ada barely looked up. “The look? You mean the ‘I’m about to throw this laptop out the window’ look?”

  Leo chuckled. “You don’t throw computers. You fix things. That’s what you do.”

  Ada finally turned to look at him, and for a moment, she just stopped.

  So Leo stopped too.

  The warm glow of the desk lamp hit her face, catching in her hair, and something about the moment felt different.

  Softer.

  More focused.

  She was still looking at him, something flickering in her expression that hadn’t been there before.

  And suddenly, he was too aware of how close they were.

  His throat went dry.

  His usual easy charm felt off, almost inaccessible.

  Because Ada was looking at him like she was trying to figure something out.

  And Leo wasn’t sure if he wanted her to.

  He blinked, vaguely aware that he was leaning in slightly. “Ada?”

  For a second, she didn’t answer.Her hands stilled on the keyboard.

  The bug she had been obsessing over was completely forgotten, and Leo knew, because he had forgotten about his own work too.

  His voice was quieter when he spoke next. “I’ll help you with the code.”

  And then, before he could process it, Ada pulled back. Too quickly. “I got it. Thanks.”

  Leo blinked, the moment snapping like a rubber band.

  “Sure,” he said after a second.

  She turned back to her laptop.

  And Leo sat there, hands resting on his lap, pulse a little too steady, like his body was trying to catch up with something his mind wasn’t ready to process.

  He stood abruptly. “I’m heading out.”

  Ada barely looked up. “Night.”

  Leo walked out of the office, jaw tight.

  He didn’t know what that was.

  But he knew he wasn’t ready to deal with it.

  End-of-Day Thoughts

  Leo wasn’t one to overthink things.

  But Ada lingered in his mind longer than usual.

  The way she looked at him.

  The way she pulled back.

  The way her breath caught when their hands brushed, like the charge between them was something neither of them had been expecting.

  He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply as he leaned back against his couch.

  He was used to flirting. Used to the chase. But this felt different.

  He wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep playing the same game.