I Love Her

~Kai

The next morning I took a long shower, trying to wash away the guilt and the mess from yesterday. When I stepped out of my room, the most unexpected smell hit me, something warm, savory, and actually good.

Was Rhea… cooking?

I walked into the kitchen, still in just my sweatpants, and stopped dead in the doorway.

There she was.

Rhea stood at the stove in a simple black nightgown that hugged her body softly, her ash blonde hair loose and slightly messy.

She looked like a wife, domestic, beautiful, and dangerously tempting all at once. The sight made my chest tighten.

I swallowed hard.

“We need to talk,” I said quietly.

She didn’t reply. She just kept stirring whatever was in the pan, her back to me.

I stepped closer. “Rhea…”

The moment I reached out and gently held her arm, she snapped.

She spun around and slapped me hard across the face the sound sharp in the quiet kitchen.

“Talk about what?” she hissed, eyes blazing with hurt and anger. “The fact that you were fucking another lady while I was gone for just a while? Or how you didn’t feel even a little remorseful and still stayed with that bitch after I walked in and saw everything?”

I rubbed my stinging cheek, heart pounding.

“I sent her home immediately,” I said quickly. “Right after you went upstairs. I swear.”

Rhea laughed bitterly, shaking her head.

“It’s none of my business, Kai. If you like, you can bring in five of them and fuck them however you like. I don’t care.”

Her words hurt more than the slap.

I stepped closer, voice desperate. “Rhea, please… I’m sorry. I fucked up. I was angry and stupid and…”

She cut me off, eyes flashing.

“What the fuck do you take me for? A sex slut? Someone you can use whenever you feel like it and then go chase other girls?”

I shook my head, stepping even closer.“No. That’s not what you are to me.”

She stared at me, breathing hard. “Then what is the relationship between us, Kai?”

I hesitated for a second. “You’re my bodyguard and…”

She cut me off again, voice cold.

“Is that it? Then let it stay as that, Kai. Nothing more.”

She turned away, shoulders tense, and went back to the stuff she was cooking like the conversation was over.

The kitchen suddenly felt too small. The smell of food that had seemed comforting a minute ago now tasted like regret.

I stood there, chest tight, watching the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about shut me out completely.

And for the first time, I didn’t know how to fix it. She snubbed me through the whole day.

________

________

I dressed up quickly the next morning in a simple black shirt and jeans and headed straight to school without checking on Rhea again. The house felt too heavy with her silence, and I needed air.

During the first lecture, I deliberately ignored Seraphima. She tried to catch my eye a couple of times, that arrogant little smile on her face, but I kept my gaze on the professor or my notes. I wasn’t in the mood for games today.

After class, Trent found me leaning against the wall outside.

“Bro, you look like shit. What happened?”

I rubbed my face and told him everything, the club, the kitchen, Rhea walking in, the slap, the fight, and how she shut down completely this morning.

Trent listened, then leaned back with a low whistle.

“Damn. So… you really like her, huh?”

I didn’t answer right away.

He looked at me seriously for once. “Ask yourself this, Kai… Do you truly love her… or do you just like fucking her?”

The question hit harder than I expected.

I opened my mouth, then closed it. The truth was messy. I loved the way she moaned my name, the way she fought me and then melted, the way she looked when she was trying so hard to stay in control.

But it was more than that.

I loved how she protected me even when she was pissed. How she stayed when she could have left. How she made me want to be better than the spoiled rich kid everyone saw.

“I… I think it’s more than just fucking her,” I admitted quietly. “She’s different. She makes me feel shit I’ve never felt before.”

Trent nodded slowly.

“Then you better fix this, man. Because from what you’re saying, she’s hurting. And if you really care, you can’t keep treating her like one of your side pieces.”

I stared at the ground, chest tight.

“Yeah… I know.”

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have a cocky comeback. I just needed to figure out how to make things right with Rhea.

Trent looked at me for a long moment, then shook his head with a small laugh.

“I think it’s time for you to stay away from the game, leave girls, and focus on her, man,” he said, half jokingly but with a serious edge. “Seems like someone’s finally captured your heart.”

I stared at him, the words sinking in deeper than I wanted to admit.

Captured my heart?

I wanted to laugh it off, to say something cocky like I always did. But the truth was sitting heavy in my chest.

Rhea wasn’t just a bodyguard. She wasn’t just someone I fucked when I felt like it.

She's the one who looked at me like I was more than my father’s money… even when she was pissed.

And I had hurt her.

I rubbed the back of my neck, exhaling slowly. “Yeah… maybe you’re right.”

Trent clapped my shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up, bro. She seems like the real deal.”

I nodded, already thinking about going home.

For the first time, I wasn’t thinking about Seraphima or any other girl.

I was thinking about Rhea and how badly I needed to fix what I broke.