KATEI leave the elevator in Ryan's parking lot. I walk towards my car, still thinking about dinner. What should I wear? Or better yet, should I even go? I unlock my car doors. I liked Mrs. Ryan, she was extremely friendly, I wouldn't want to disappoint her.""Collins!" I turn, meeting his gaze. "What?" He has his jacket over his shoulder and that gloomy expression, then takes a step towards me, approaching me. "I came to see if what you said earlier is true?" "What?" I blink, not understanding. "That you get wet just from being near me," he whispers, and he's too close now. He puts his hands on my hips, and I take a deep breath. "Not here. Still, someone might be here." I look around, pushing him away. "Everyone has already left." "Then why are there still more than two cars?" "Must be the security." "So not everyone has left." I turn to open the door, but he stops me, putting his hand over mine. Pulling me, he opens the back door. "No." "Get in." "Ryan." "Collins." He s

NATHANHow could my mother do this? She should have told me and I would have never let Kate come. If she even imagined that Mia is my ex, she would eat me alive. I sit at the table after her. I've been avoiding Mia's gaze, but it's hard. Why is she here? Doesn't she realize how inconvenient it is? Especially her, who has always been so sensible. I've always admired her, especially when she accepted our breakup. She didn't complain, even though I knew she still liked me, but I couldn't be with her anymore. It wasn't working, I needed freedom, even though I still had feelings for her. Our relationship had become boring. It had fallen into a routine, even though I once felt adoration for her, everything had become unbearable.As if that weren't enough, Stephan continued to try to annoy me, shamelessly flirting with Kate. The conversation continued as we finished dessert. I wondered what Kate was thinking as she listened to my mother talk about my childhood and adolescence. She shouldn't

NATHAN We took the elevator to the parking lot."I'm not going to your house. If you want to talk, start talking," she says, stopping."Are you afraid to go with me?""Do you think I'm going to deny the desire I feel for you? I'm not. But I prefer to avoid your seduction games. Let's be practical," she says, crossing her arms over her chest."Is it because of Mia?""Please," she rolls her eyes."You accepted the agreement.""Fuck the agreement. I don't want it anymore. It's simple.""Why?""For everything. But mostly for myself. I don't want to do this anymore.""Kate...""Please. I want you to respect my decision. And don't worry, we know that there are many women who...""Don't be ridiculous!""Fuck, I want more, Ryan! And you can't give me more. If I ever want to have a relationship with someone, I don't want it to be like this... hiding from people, like I'm doing something wrong. That's all. And you shouldn't care so much.""You want more? What do you want? A damn relationship,

NATHAN"I don't know what you were thinking," Stephan says, sinking into the couch. "It was such a hassle for me to clean up the mess you caused. The last time I saw you like that was in high school, remember? When you broke Queen's nose. But what was the reason again? Did he steal one of your girlfriends?" I wonder how I'm going to work with this damn headache."Are you going to stay here?" Stephan asks."Are you sure you don't like her?""I have to go. Let's drop this.""Nat, I think you're going to ruin all the plans I had for us.""I suppose your plans involve a strip club or a party here with more strippers like you did last time you visited me," he laughs."You didn't complain then. Maybe you need to accept that she rejected you, Ryan, and move on. A while ago, you would have already been dating some model.""Stop bothering me. I have to go to work.""I understand the sex is incredible, but I think you're already out of the game for her. At least, that's how it seemed last night

NATHANCould this be some kind of shitty joke? There's a giant bouquet of roses on her table. Without caring about anything this time, I approach it and rummage through it looking for a note. There's only one paper, with no sender. Written in a ridiculously fancy way.You're surprisingly amazing. Thank you, beautiful. Have a great day. See you later.The idea that it could be from a guy makes me freak out. Maybe it's from a friend or family member. Don't fool yourself, Ryan."Good morning, Mr. Ryan," she caught me again. But this time I won't hold back."I thought I was clear about this kind of thing!" I hold up the note."I'm sorry, I have no idea who they are.""Don't be hypocritical. The person who sent it thinks you're surprisingly amazing! And also thank you! But the big question is for what?""I apologize for it happening again. I'll make sure it never happens again. But who sent it and why, is information that doesn't concern you. You also don't have the right to snoop."Keep c