I turned, and something flew toward me. I caught it on reflex. When I frowned at him in surprise, he was leaning against the counter, hands braced on either side.
"Believe me, you don't need fancy sentences, Duru. You're strong enough to fight without them. But a little energy might help."
I looked down at the pack of my favorite chocolate in my hand. My smile stretched so wide it nearly reached my ears, and I looked back up at him.
"How did you know?"
He winked with a small smile.
"That's my secret."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, Rüzgar, but you're really sweet."
I walked over, put a hand on his shoulder, rose onto my toes, and pressed a tiny kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you."
"I'm ready, Rüzgar. Let's go…"
Kerem walked into the kitchen mid-sentence. His eyes moved from his wristwatch, which he was trying to fasten, to us. He didn't finish whatever he'd been about to say. He scanned both of us, then fixed a questioning look on me.
It felt like I'd taken a punch to the stomach. I was too far gone to care about the tension on his face.
God. How could a person be this devastatingly beautiful? I genuinely couldn't understand it.
I read a book a week, and yet I couldn't find the words to describe how handsome this man was. If that wasn't proof of how deep I'd fallen, I didn't know what was.
He was dressed head to toe in black, a stark contrast against his pale skin. I'd never seen black look this sexy and this elegant at the same time on anyone, not even actors and models in movies.
With his fitted leather jacket, the V-neck shirt underneath, his slim-fit jeans, and the military boots finishing the look, he was honestly breathtaking. He'd styled his hair the way I liked it too, brushed up so the waves curled slightly at the top. And purely because of how it looked on him, I might've just developed a leather jacket fetish.
Rüzgar cleared his throat and I snapped out of my fantasy world. I blinked and looked at him for a second. He had one eyebrow raised, watching me with an expression that screamed, I know exactly what you were thinking. His fist was still half-raised near his lips like he was holding back a laugh, but I could see the amusement in his eyes.
Perfect. As always, I had no limits when it came to humiliating myself.
I couldn't wait for the heat rising in my face to become even more obvious. Without daring to look at Kerem again, I dropped my head in embarrassment and moved to leave the kitchen silently, one hand lifted near my forehead like a shield.
Then a hand grabbed my arm and I had to stop.
My heart started pounding at the sudden contact, because it was the first time in days he'd touched me at all, but he yanked his hand back immediately, like he'd touched fire.
"Duru."
The cold seriousness in the way he said my name made disappointment flare inside me, and I had to make sure it didn't show. I forced my shoulders back, lowered the hand that had been hiding my face, and answered without looking at him.
"Yes?"
"I won't be back tonight. So you won't be alone…"
I cut him off because I couldn't stand being there another second.
"I don't need to hear the rest. I'm sure you've taken more than enough precautions for me to be safe. If you'll excuse me, I have assignments to finish. Have fun."
I didn't give either of them a chance to respond. I rushed out of the kitchen, went upstairs, and shut myself in my room.
Now it made sense why both of them had dressed so carefully. They were both single, healthy, attractive men. They'd probably planned a long, fun night with beautiful women. What had I been expecting, exactly? That because he'd kissed me once or twice, he'd suddenly like me and stop looking at anyone else?
Sometimes I couldn't even tolerate my own naivety.
A sudden cramp hit low in my abdomen and I doubled over, breathing deeply to steady myself. I walked to the bed and sat down slowly, pulling my phone from my pocket. According to my calendar, I wasn't supposed to be on my period yet, but all this emotional chaos must have thrown my body off.
I got up, grabbed a pad from my bag, and went to the shared bathroom in the hallway. After taking care of it, I returned to my room and dug through my bag again, this time searching for a painkiller. When I found one, I took it with the water on my nightstand and lay back down, waiting for it to kick in as I scanned the room.
The surprise turning into a disaster had actually been unfair to Kerem. He'd prepared a room with such elegant detail, thought through down to the smallest thing. Even if he'd said he asked my friends what I liked and got their help to match my taste, the effort alone was thoughtful enough. I couldn't deny that it made me happy.
There was only one thing that bothered me. The day we went to the mall, he'd bought me everything that caught my eye in the stores. When I told him it was unnecessary and asked him to return it, he stubbornly refused to take anything back.
So instead of arguing, I'd put everything he bought, still in its bags, into one corner of the massive closet, separated from my own things. When I left and went back home, what he did with them would be his decision. He could return them, give them to other girls, or throw them away.
Thinking about him only made me tenser, and my cramps worsened, so I took a deep breath. To distract myself, I picked up my phone. I could probably waste time on it for a while.
Half an hour later, even my phone bored me, so I tossed it aside and grabbed the book on my bedside. Ten chapters in, the exciting parts devolved into an irritating web of drama and denial, and cursing out the characters didn't help my already fragile mood at all. I slipped the bookmark in and put the book back.
As the pain slowly eased, I stared blankly around the room, not sure what to do. Trying to work in this state would be torture, and since I was stuck at home alone again, the best option was to lie down and watch a movie.
I got up to grab my laptop. Just as I stepped toward the desk, I felt my sweatpants tugged. I looked down.
"You're awake?"
I laughed at the sound, more like a low hum than a bark because he was still so small, and scooped Zeytin into my arms. He nuzzled into my neck while I scratched his head, and I laughed even more. With my other hand, I grabbed my laptop and sat back on the bed.
"At least I'm not that alone now. What should we watch, Zeytin?"
I opened the folder of romantic movies I'd curated for my special days. Since I was already too emotional, I figured something heavy on drama would make more sense. I skipped the first few and stopped when I saw exactly what I needed.
I shifted into a comfortable position, leaned back against the headboard, and was about to start the movie with Zeytin on my lap when a tapping sound came from my door. I frowned.
"Who is it?"