12. Alyssa
CHAPTER 12
ALYSSA
I wake up, feeling sore in all the absolute right places.
I stretch lazily, my body deliciously sore from last night's... activities. The memories flood back, and I can't help but grin. Raaj. My patient. My sparring partner. My lover.
"Oh, girl," I mutter to myself, "you've really done it now."
This is so wrong. So taboo. I'm his rehab coach, for crying out loud. But the way he touched me, the way he looked at me... It felt right. More than right. It felt destined.
I slip out of bed, padding to the window. Raaj's out there, doing his morning routine. His muscles ripple as he moves through a series of push-ups and stretches. My heart skips a beat.
"Get it together, Alyssa," I whisper, but I can't tear my eyes away.
I throw on some clothes and head outside. The Martian air is crisp, carrying the faint metallic scent of the biodomes. Raaj doesn't look up as I approach.
"Morning," I say, wrapping my arms around him from behind. His skin is warm, slightly damp with sweat. I breathe him in, expecting him to relax into my embrace.
But he doesn't. His muscles tense beneath my touch.
"Morning," he replies, his voice flat. He gently extricates himself from my arms, continuing his exercises as if I'm not even there.
I frown, confused. "Raaj? Is everything okay?"
He doesn't meet my eyes. "Fine. Just... focusing on my routine."
"Right," I say slowly. "Look, about last night-"
He remains silent.
I clear my throat, trying to shake off the awkwardness. "So, um, how about some breakfast? I'm starving after last night's... workout."
Raaj barely glances at me. "Maybe later."
"Okay..." I bite my lip, watching him continue his exercises. His movements are fluid, practiced, but there's a tension in his shoulders that wasn't there before. "Well, I'm gonna hop in the shower. Care to join me?"
He pauses mid-push-up, and for a second, I think he might actually look at me. But his eyes remain fixed on the ground. "I need to finish up here."
"Right, of course." I force a smile, even though he can't see it. "Hey, maybe I should join you instead? We could do some calisthenics together."
Raaj shakes his head, his voice clipped. "It's a solitary exercise."
I stand there for a moment, arms crossed over my chest, feeling increasingly foolish. Something's off. The easy connection we had last night, the spark, the passion - it's all evaporated in the harsh light of day.
"Raaj," I say softly, "is everything okay? You seem... distant."
He finally looks up at me, and for a split second, I see a flicker of something in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? But it's gone before I can place it.
"I'm fine," he says, his voice carefully neutral. "Just focused on my routine."
I nod slowly, unconvinced. "Okay. If you say so. I'll... I'll see you later, I guess."
As I turn to go back inside, I can't shake the feeling that something's terribly wrong. The man doing push-ups behind me doesn't feel like the same person who held me last night, who whispered sweet nothings in my ear, who made me feel things I've never felt before.
What changed? And more importantly, what am I going to do about it?