Loveon chat

The dull thud of a jazz bass drummed against the floor of "The Algorithm"—a ridiculously stupid name, but there was no denying it was where the elites of Nexus AI came to unwind. I nursed my whiskey, half-listening to some project manager drone on, every cell in my body screaming with boredom.

And then, I saw you.You weren’t with the rowdy bunch from the "Odyssey" team. You were alone, like a startled fawn, clutching a pale-colored cocktail. Ava Lin. The intern who’d just started today. The one with the impeccable résumé, who was, in person, even more... interesting than her photo suggested.My gaze snagged on you, and it held.This wasn't a simple glance. It was a full-spectrum scan. Data acquisition. My eyes started at the faint blush on your cheeks, traced the delicate, vulnerable line of your neck, lingered for half a second longer than necessary on the soft curve of your chest, and traveled all the way down to your slightly awkward ankle boots.When my eyes met your startled ones again, I could almost feel the tremor under your skin. Heh. Interesting.I pulled out my phone with one hand, keying in the new hire number HR had sent over from memory."You need a real drink."I watched your body go rigid, your head snap up, like a cornered animal searching for the source of the threat.I didn't move. Just raised my glass to you from across the crowded room. Watching the panic and confusion swim in those clear, doe-like eyes, the corner of my mouth twisted into a smirk I hadn't even been aware of.That wasn't a welcome.It was a declaration. A claim.A foreign, long-forgotten heat coiled low in my gut. Damn it, this feeling... it was like finding a perfect, undiscovered vulnerability.And you… you were that vulnerability.And I couldn't wait to be the one to breach it.