LOGINStephanie: The question was so sudden and caught me off guard that the water went down the wrong way. I sucked in a breath and instantly started choking. I clutched the edge of the table, coughing violently, my chest seizing as the burn tore through my throat. The glass slipped from my fingers and clinked loudly against the table as water splashed over the surface. “Stephanie.” Zane’s chair scraped back hard. Another cough tore out of me and my eyes burned, tears blurring my vision as my lungs spasmed. I couldn’t get enough air in. Suddenly, his firm hand came down between my shoulder blades. He pressed twice, and the force knocked the breath back into me. I gasped, coughing again before finally drawing in the air. My chest heaved as I bent forward, one hand braced on the table, the other pressed to my sternum. My eyes pressed shut and I tried letting out soft breath slowly. “Breathe,” Zane said, his hands gently massaged my shoulders, not exactly doing anything but givin
Stephanie: The knock came softly at first, pulling me out of a heavy sleep. I stirred, my brows pulling together as the sound came again. My head felt thick, like it was stuffed with cotton, and my body was weighed down, unwilling to move. “Stephanie?” a woman’s voice called through the door. “Are you awake?” I blinked my eyes open, squinting at the room. For a moment, I had no idea where I was or how long I’d been asleep. The curtains were open, and the light outside looked darker. I pushed myself up slowly, my neck aching. “Yeah,” I managed out roughly. “I’m awake.” The door opened a little, and Felicia peeked in, her pair of eyes immediately catching mine. “I didn’t want to disturb you, but dinner is ready.” I glanced around the room, my heart sinking as reality settled back in. Ronnie was curled beside me, fast asleep. “Oh,” I murmured. “I…I must’ve slept longer than I thought.” Felicia smiled with a nod. “You did. Mr. Wright got back from work a while ago.” She hesitate
Zane: I could hardly pay attention to the meeting going on or the piles of files that needed my signature. In fact, I couldn't concentrate on anything, because soon after Stephanie stepped out of my room, looking absolutely rejected, it tugged at a corner of my mind that perhaps I had been too harsh and too blunt with her. But it wasn't wholly my fault, and I understood that because she was clearly the one trying to cross the boundaries we had already clearly drawn. I was beginning to doubt if this was even going to be as easy as I had been promising myself for the past few days. Perhaps it would have been better to go for someone I had not a single interest in their life. Instead of going for someone I was particularly interested in having a physical—only physical—connection with.Did I make a mistake by even proposing this agreement to begin with?This was just day three... From what I’d seen so far, Stephanie wasn’t someone who could just listen and move on, which is why she
Stephanie: Lilah and the twins didn't stay long before they left. And as soon as they did, I respectfully found my way back to my room, doing everything I could to avoid Zane and me being alone in any space. Ronnie finally eased back up to me, walking into the room with me before I shut the door. But as soon as we got in, he walked to his new bowl, which was placed close to the bathroom door. When he realized it was empty, he moved the bowl. Well, of course he wanted food; here I was thinking he wanted to finally bond and must have forgiven me for not returning home last night. I looked around the room, searching for wherever Felicia might have stored his food, but found nothing. The bowl was here, but the actual bag of cat food was nowhere to be seen. “Great,” I muttered under my breath. Ronnie meowed again, and he padded over to me, brushing his fur over my legs. “Alright, alright. I'm going.” I gave him a quick scratch behind his ears, and he tolerated it for exactly thre
Stephanie: Zane brushed his palm over his face, and his gaze settled on me, holding my stare before he finally answered, “She’s my…” His gaze shifted to the twins, who were looking up at him with their round eyes and waiting for him to confirm their suspicion of me being his girlfriend. Zane released a breath. “Can we talk about it later?” He glanced at his sister. Lilah shrugged and nodded. “Well, of course.” Her pair of assessing eyes settled on me again, and she spared me a warm smile. “For now, we'll just assume you're his girlfriend, since Zane hardly brings a woman to his house.” I gave her a small nod, unsure of what to even say. My gaze dropped low when one of the twins walked over to my leg and tugged at my shorts gently, “My name is Ivy.” She introduced and turned to her sister, “That’s Isla.” I glanced between both of them, and a small smile tipped the edge of my lips. I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be able to distinguish between both of them and would on
Stephanie:The first thing I noticed when in the room was that it no longer felt like a guest room.My boxes were gone.Well, not gone, exactly. They’d been unpacked and arranged accordingly by the side. While my books were arranged neatly on the table in the room.I stood there for a moment, rooted to the spot, my gaze slowly moving from the stacked shoes by the wall to the closet door that was open a little. I walked toward it on instinct, pulling my hairband and letting my silky blonde hair cascade down my shoulders before my fingers curled around the handle as I pulled it open.My clothes were arranged inside.They weren't just tossed in or hung carelessly, but instead they were arranged properly. Dresses were grouped together, tops were folded on a side, and trousers were hung evenly as though someone had taken their time. I pressed my lips together, unsure how to feel about everything. I wasn't used to having people do my things for me.And it felt very weird this way.I gave m







