The air in Kai's home felt warmer now. Or maybe it was her.
Alexis sat by the window wrapped in a silk robe, legs tucked under her, a mug in her hand. She hadn't taken a sip in over ten minutes. Her eyes weren't on the cityscape outside, they were somewhere else. Somewhere far away.
He watched her from the other side of the room, silently. Shirtless. Still bare from the night they'd spent melting into each other.
She hadn't said much this morning. Just quiet nods, soft hums. But Kai noticed everything. The way her fingers tapped against the mug, the way her gaze darted to her phone and quickly away.
Something was coming.
He approached slowly, as if she might vanish if he stepped too hard.
"You're always thinking," he said, crouching beside her.
"I like thinking," she replied.
"Not when it hurts you."
She turned to him, and for a moment, he thought she might tell him. But instead, she gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Do you think we're fucked up?"
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Individually or together?"
"Both."
He tilted his head, studying her. "Yes. But it's addictive."
That made her laugh, a soft, real sound. He leaned in and kissed her shoulder, lips trailing up her neck. She shivered.
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Take me somewhere today."
"Where?"
"Somewhere normal. Somewhere not this."
He didn't ask questions. Within an hour, they were walking through a small town market just outside the city, her idea. Alexis looked alive again, taking in scents of fresh bread, flowers, street chatter. She even smiled at a child offering her a flower.
Kai kept close. Always watching.
They ended up in an old, barely lit cinema. She insisted they sit in the back.
"I want to watch a movie," she said.
"You want to escape," he corrected.
"Same thing."
She chose a romantic film probably on purpose and throughout, Kai barely glanced at the screen. His attention was on her. Every shift of her body. Every subtle reaction. Her heartbeat, her breath, the flicker in her eyes.
Then she froze.
He followed her gaze and saw a woman, maybe a few years older than Alexis, waving with recognition from across the aisle.
"Friend?" he asked calmly.
"Sort of," she said, standing. "Be right back."
He didn't like the way the woman looked at her. Like she knew her. Like she knew secrets Alexis hadn't shared. He watched every second of the short conversation. Alexis came back quickly, too quickly.
Kai didn't speak right away. But he leaned close, whispering low, "You didn't tell her you were with someone."
She turned to him, surprised. "Are you my boyfriend?"
"No."
"Then it doesn't matter what I tell her, does it?"
His jaw tensed. She grinned, knowing she'd gotten under his skin.
But when the lights dimmed again, her smile faded. She could still feel her friend's eyes on her. The one who once offered her a place in Italy. The one who didn't know she was planning to disappear again. And she could feel Kai beside her, burning hotter than ever.
At the end of the movie, he pulled her into the alley behind the theater.
"You like testing me," he said darkly.
"Why are you so easy to provoke?"
He pressed her against the wall, lips finding hers, hungry, rough. She moaned against him, wrapping her legs around his waist. Their kiss turned messy, hands desperate, like they were both trying to take something from the other they couldn't name.
She gasped when he bit into her neck not to feed, just to claim. The scent of her arousal mixed with the scent of rain beginning to fall.
"I'm not good at sharing," he muttered into her skin.
"I didn't ask you to be."
But neither of them stopped.
And in the middle of the night, back in his bed, he pulled her close, fingers brushing over her pulse like he needed to make sure she was real. Still here.
She was.
But not for long.