If we were going to break up anyway, I didn’t want to leave in a humiliating mess.
So after dinner, while Kyle was in the study working, I quietly carried my things out of the master bedroom and into the guest room.
I didn’t interrupt him the way I usually did. I didn’t lean against the door frame and ask when he was coming to bed. I didn’t whine that I couldn’t sleep without him.
After my shower, I climbed into bed alone and wrapped myself in the blankets.
My feet were cold.
Maybe from now on, no one would warm them for me.
I was still lying there thinking useless, miserable thoughts when there was a knock at the door.
I jumped, scrambled up, and opened it just a crack, hiding most of my body behind it.
“Kyle? Did you need something?”
He planted one foot against the door before I could close it and looked at me in a way that made my heart beat faster for all the wrong reasons.
His mood seemed bad.
“Why are you sleeping in here?”
I avoided his eyes. “I want to sleep alone.”
His gaze dropped, dark and heavy. Even the air between us seemed colder.
“Why?”
I knew suddenly moving rooms was strange, so I gave him the excuse I’d already prepared.
“You said before that I toss around too much in my sleep. I thought maybe I should work on that and stop bothering you.”
He answered almost immediately.
“Sleep with me. I’ll help you fix it.”
Heat rushed to my ears.
It was such a normal sentence, but coming from Kyle’s low, beautiful voice, it somehow sounded intimate enough to make my pulse trip.
And just like that, my mind filled with memories.
All those nights when he slept shirtless behind me, his chest hot against my back, his chin brushing the top of my head.
But those were nights I had begged for. Nights when I insisted he hold me from behind because I liked it.
Had he hated those too?
Guilt rose in me before I could stop it.
Then, before I could answer, Kyle reached out and caught my hand.
I flinched so hard it was almost violent, like I’d been shocked.
His eyes darkened at once.
I pressed my lips together and whispered, “No. I’m fine sleeping by myself. I want some personal space.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“Fine. Don’t regret it.”
The next day was Saturday. We both stayed home.
For the first time ever, Kyle invited me to watch a movie with him in the media room. A thriller.
I almost said yes out of habit, then stopped myself.
Because if we were in the same room, I knew exactly what would happen. I’d get scared, I’d get comfortable, and eventually I’d crawl into his lap or burrow into his arms.
And the comments had already made one thing brutally clear.
Kyle didn’t like my constant need for contact.
Every time we watched movies before, I had to beg before he finally let me sit with him. He always stayed stiff and upright, and when there was a kissing scene onscreen, he would quietly move me away after a moment.
Once, when I reached up to touch his face, he recoiled like he’d been burned. Then he’d immediately made an excuse to leave the room.
Love hid in the details.
And so did dislike.
I shook my head. “Maybe not.”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Relieved, I escaped to answer it.
A girl I didn’t know stood outside.
Her hands were tucked behind her back, and when she smiled, her face lit up.
“Hi. I’m looking for Kyle.”
I froze.
The comments exploded.
It’s our heroine!
She’s so pretty. So alive. She and the male lead are obviously meant to be together.
She came all the way here just to set the tone.
I took a reflexive step back and called into the house, “K-Kyle? Someone’s here for you.”
He appeared a few seconds later in casual home clothes, tall and unfairly handsome.
The girl—Lena, as I would soon learn—brought her hands out from behind her back.
She was holding a soft white pillow.
“I heard you haven’t been sleeping well,” she said sweetly. “I picked one that helps with that.”
Kyle accepted it with no expression at all. “Thanks.”
They exchanged a few more polite lines while I stood there, rooted to the floor.
The comments kept talking.
Do you see how thoughtful that gift is? Helpful, intimate, but not too intimate. She knows exactly how to get closer without overstepping.
Wasn’t his old pillow bought by the side character? Looks like it’s getting replaced.
That’s how it starts. First the things she gave him get replaced. Then eventually, she does too.
I lowered my gaze and turned, planning to disappear without a sound.
Then Lena suddenly called after me.
“You’re Kyle’s girlfriend, right? You’re really pretty. I’m Lena. Oh, and I like cats too.”
I blinked, confused, about to answer—
But Kyle moved before I could. He ushered her out almost immediately.
A minute later, he came back out of the bedroom holding another pillow.
The one I had bought him.
He handed it to me as if nothing was strange about any of this.
“Your room doesn’t have a pillow, does it? Use this one.”
Then he added, in that same calm voice, “This one’s comfortable.”
I stared at him for a second before taking it.
A bitter ache passed through me so quickly I almost missed it.
The comments had been right again.
He had chosen Lena’s gift.
And he’d returned mine.
Maybe he’d even come up with that reason in advance because he was afraid I’d make a scene.
I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe in front of him anymore.
I grabbed the pillow and fled back to my room.