The next morning, my back was killing me.
I had finally reached my limit with the tiny single bed in that apartment. One normal night on it was already enough to make my waist ache. Add Kyle to the equation, and it became a weapon.
So while he was making breakfast, I slipped up behind him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and muttered into his back, “Can we move back today?”
He thought for a second and nodded in deep agreement.
“Good idea. The bed at the house really is better for what I need to do.”
I went silent.
The silence was deafening.
When we got back to the house, a long-haired calico kitten came wobbling toward me from the front path, meowing like it had been waiting for me forever.
I gasped and scooped it up at once.
It looked only three or four months old.
Then I remembered the scratches on the back of Kyle’s hand.
My eyes widened. “You did this?”
He looked absurdly pleased with himself.
“I brought her home from the alley near your office. She’s one of the kittens from the stray cat you always feed.”
My nose stung.
“But… you don’t even like cats.”
He answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“You like cats.”
I looked down at his hand again. The scratches had already scabbed over.
“The kitten did that?”
He nodded. “First time trimming her nails. She wasn’t a fan. Don’t worry. She’s vaccinated, dewormed, and litter trained.”
I laughed and almost cried at the same time.
So that cat plush in the car…
It hadn’t been Lena’s gift to him.
It had been for me.
I put the kitten down, took Kyle’s hand, and kissed the healing marks on the back of it.
“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me,” I said softly.
Kyle lifted his chin in a way that would have looked smug if the tips of his ears weren’t bright red.
Later, because the little menace was too energetic for any normal name, we called her Trouble.
And honestly, being able to keep living like that felt pretty wonderful.
Then, one day, Jason texted me and asked if I wanted to go see a movie.
Kyle became instantly alert the second he heard Jason’s name.
Looking at his expression, I cautiously said, “I can just say no.”
He let out a cold laugh.
“Oh no. Go. You absolutely have to go.”
That day, he dressed like a peacock preparing for war.
Apparently the goal was to make his romantic rival feel insecure on sight.
Then he planted himself right between Jason and me in the theater like a security system with anger issues.
The movie started.
All three of us watched… a patriotic war film.
By the time we walked out, Kyle still looked confused.
“Why wasn’t it a romance?”
Jason passed by him with a smirk. “Company free ticket.”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“He figured if nobody used it, it would go to waste. I hadn’t seen it yet, so he invited me.”
Kyle made a deeply unimpressed noise.
That night, he held me even tighter than usual.
Lately, he’d somehow become the clingier one.
So I finally asked the question that had been bothering me for the longest time.
“I thought you hated when I was clingy.”
Kyle looked honestly baffled.
“When did I ever say that?”
“You always dodged me before. Every time I tried to get close.”
He let out a dramatic sigh, then pinched my waist.
“That was strategy. If I let you have me too easily, you wouldn’t treasure it.”
I stared at him.
He continued, completely serious.
“I tested it multiple times. If I just let you kiss me, I only get kissed once. But if I dodge a little first, you chase me and kiss me a dozen times.”
I went speechless.
Then I buried my face in his chest and laughed so hard I almost couldn’t breathe.
Above us, the comments never came back.
And for the first time, I didn’t need them.
Because this time, I already knew the truth.