I closed the bedroom door behind me and headed straight for the bathroom. My hands trembled as I turned the lock and leaned against the sink. The fluorescent light hummed above, its harsh glow reflecting my red-rimmed eyes in the mirror.Kenzie’s voice still echoed in my head like a cruel refrain—pretender… no good for him… I’d rather die than let my brother marry you.The words dug under my skin, sharp as broken glass. I wanted to scream, to throw something, to tear her words out of my memory, but I just gripped the edge of the sink until my knuckles turned white.I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until I heard the soft knock.“Starr?” Seven’s voice came through the door, calm but laced with worry. “Are you okay?”I froze, staring at my reflection. Did I look okay? My mascara smudged beneath my eyes said otherwise.I turned slowly, facing the door, though he couldn’t see me. My voice cracked as I spoke:“Why didn’t you tell me… that you had sweet sex with Tina? Kenzie’s
The kitchen went utterly still after Catherine’s sharp words.Her voice, though small, carried a weight that silenced everyone.“Stop talking to her like that, Kenzie. You don’t get to treat her that way. She doesn’t deserve it.”Kenzie blinked, clearly surprised. For once, she had no quick comeback. The smugness slipped from her face, leaving only tight lips and a hard stare. Catherine, tiny but unyielding, stood her ground, her eyes blazing with quiet defiance.I let the silence linger for a moment before slowly turning to face Kenzie’s friend. She still sat perched on her stool, smirking as if she’d already won. My chest rose and fell, but when I spoke, my voice was steady, and sharper than glass.“You know what?” I said, meeting her eyes without flinching. “I’m not even going to argue about what happened in the past. Yeah… maybe you had something with Seven. Maybe it was good.”Her smirk widened as if she thought I was surrendering.“But here’s the truth,” I went on, my words cutt
My breathing became a little more obvious, almost embarrassingly loud in the quiet room, as I stared directly into his face. My eyes couldn’t seem to stay in one place—flickering restlessly from his dark, unreadable gaze to the shape of his lips and back again, like I was searching for an answer in either one.“The hell, yes, Seven. Yes, I was jealous, and I’m not even trying to hide it.”The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could soften them, blunt and sharp like they’d been waiting all night to escape.He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he leaned forward and stole a kiss from me—swift and purposeful, as if his lips alone could shush me, could erase my mood with that familiar taste of him.But I wasn’t having it. Not this time. I pulled back slightly, my chest still rising and falling faster than it should.“How long have you known her for?”That question came out of nowhere, or maybe it had been simmering under my skin since last night, but it flew out before I could stop
My small hands roamed lazily over my face, rubbing as if I could erase the blazing sunlight stabbing through the curtains.The heat pressed down on my skin like I’d been set in an oven — each ray baking me alive until I felt like a sun-toasted cake.With a groggy squint, I rolled deeper into the bed, stretching my arm across to feel for Seven.Empty.The absence hit me hard. My heart kicked into a sprint, pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. What’s the time? I panicked. Shit. Did I oversleep?I tossed the duvet off and swung my legs down in one quick motion — that’s when the small side door creaked open.My head whipped toward it, and my heartbeat stumbled before trying to calm itself.Seven stood there, taking in the way I sat frozen at the edge of the bed, my nightie wrinkled and my face damp with sweat. I probably looked like I’d just seen a ghost.“Hey, babe… you okay?” His voice was easy, but his eyes were already scanning me.I swallowed hard, realizing I’d been holding
All eyes shifted to where I stood and I instantly felt an icy shiver rush down my spine. I was fucking embarrassed.Slowly, I lowered my butt and placed it on the couch at exactly the spot where I sat, before I cowardly stood up to greet her.I took my gaze from my trembling fingers to meet their throbbing eyes. His mother flashed a wide smile at me and blinked her eyes and shook her head.She was trying to tell me not to take it to heart, and I understood, but I still felt ashamed, so I just nodded and shifted my eyes to meet Seven.He was talking to his sister very lowly, but she was smiling so I don’t know if he was scolding her or not. But I felt he was, because she turned around, glanced at me briefly and shrugged her shoulders before taking her eyes back to meet him.Her friend hesitantly went close to seven and stretched her hands to have a shake. Though Seven hesitated but eventually stretched himself to shake her, but she didn’t make it brief.She held onto him and started as
Deliberately, I sucked in my teeth for the tenth time in a row. I suddenly felt it was becoming a habit for today.I was currently in my room, parking up a mini bag with some clothes in it. Today was Friday, and I came back a little early from work because our flight was supposed to be at 5pm.And it was already 3:30pm. The week literally ran fast because I was praying so hard for it to. Damn! I literally haven’t been sleeping well because I could think of is meeting his whole family and them liking me.Seven already pre-informed them and they’re making it something for the whole family to come together.His elder brother and his sisters were going to be present. So I literally had to pick out some of my best clothes to look more presentable and not stupid or…. Uh… should say naïve?My ringing phone jolted me out of my reverie and, quickly, I darted my feet to the table five feet away from me. Picking up my phone, I swiped the right part, taking it to the pickup part.“Hey.” I breathe