LOGINAfter I started dating Ryan Kellogg, I gave up the little rituals I had loved for twenty years. No birthday cakes. No fireworks on New Year's Eve. No more searching for the restaurant with the prettiest view on our anniversary. Ryan always said real life didn't need all that decorative nonsense. He only agreed to a modest engagement dinner because I insisted. But when he arrived that evening, he was wearing a perfectly tailored suit. Our friends and relatives looked at him with new respect. I was thrilled, convinced he was finally learning to meet me halfway. Then, on the drive home, I happened to see a post from Sophie Bennett, the younger graduate Ryan had been mentoring. In the photo, she stood beside him outside Bellhaven State University, wearing the heirloom brooch his late mother had meant for his future wife. Her caption read: My mentor said he never expected the first time he'd wear a full suit would be for my graduation. I scrolled farther. Ryan had sent Sophie flowers and a cake for her birthday. He'd even helped celebrate the adoption anniversary of her dog. I touched the empty place above my heart and felt something inside me turn cold. His romance was a privilege reserved for Sophie. Our engagement dinner had merely fit into his schedule. As we entered our apartment complex, Ryan tapped the steering wheel. "Han, I gave you the engagement dinner you wanted. Let's just do the courthouse ceremony next week and skip the wedding." I put away my phone and smiled. "All right." He was right about one thing. There was no reason for us to get married.
View More"Kayla, ambilin handuk!" Suara teriakan Axel terdengar dari kamar mandi, membuat tanganku yang sedang mengoles kream tabir surya ke wajah mendadak terhenti.
Aku menoleh ke arah kamar mandi dengan dahi berkerut. "Ambil aja sendiri! Lo kan punya kaki!"
"Lo mau gue becekin kamar lagi? Nanti lo jangan marah ya!"
"Sialan, lo!" rutukku dengan wajah masam.
Aku meletakkan botol kream ke meja rias dengan gerakan kasar, lalu meraih handuk di kasur untuk mengantarkannya ke kamar mandi.
Dari pintu kamar, aku melihat ruang shower yang tertutup kaca itu penuh dengan uap air hangat yang menutupi sebagian dindingnya, membuat pandanganku ke bagian dalam tampak buram.
Dengan dada yang masih diliputi amarah, aku langsung membuka pintu kaca sambil mengomel.
"Makanya kalau mandi siapin dulu semuanya. Jangan lang—" Kalimatku seketika terhenti setelah mataku menangkap tubuh bugil suamiku yang terekspos begitu jelas tanpa sehelai benang pun.
Mataku sempat membulat dan tertahan di daerah vitalnya selama beberapa detik sebelum akhirnya membuang muka demi membersihkan mataku dari noda dan dosa.
Brengsek! Kenapa aku harus melihat benda itu pagi-pagi begini?
Aku menggigit bibir bawah sambil memejamkan mata, lalu mengulurkan handuk padanya dengan gerakan ragu. "Cepetan ambil!"
Namun, Axel seperti sengaja ingin mengerjaiku. Aku mendengar suara kekehan kecil lolos dari bibirnya disusul suara percikan air bekas langkah kakinya yang mendekat.
"Ngapain lo tutup mata? Bukannya lo udah sering liat gue bugil?"
Benar. Selama hampir satu tahun menjalin pernikahan rahasia dengan sepupuku itu, kami sudah biasa saling melihat tubuh polos kami. Meski begitu, kami sama sekali tidak tertarik untuk melakukan hubungan badan.
Ya mana mungkin kami bernafsu untuk melakukan hubungan itu? Axel adalah kakak sepupuku dari pihak Ibu. Kami yang hanya terpaut usia lima tahun sudah terbiasa bermain bersama sejak kecil. Tapi gara-gara wasiat sialan dari Papaku, kami akhirnya terpaksa menikah.
"Gue geli lihat pentungan lo. Cepet nih, ambil handuknya!" teriakku dengan mata yang masih terpejam erat.
Namun, bukannya mengambil handuk, Axel justru menarik tanganku. Ia memutar tubuhku dengan cepat dan mendekapku erat dari belakang.
Aku bisa merasakan tubuhnya yang masih basah, menembus kain piyamaku yang tipis. Aku bahkan bisa mencium wangi bergamot dari sabun favorit Axel yang maskulin.
Untuk beberapa saat, tubuhku membeku dalam dekapannya. Aku hampir saja lupa, bahwa pria di belakangku ini adalah kakak sepupuku yang menikah denganku karena terpaksa. Sampai akhirnya setetes air jatuh dari ujung rambutnya, tepat mengenai bulatan dadaku yang masih bebas dari balutan BH.
Aku terperanjat dan langsung memberontak sekuat tenaga untuk melepaskan diri dari kungkungannya. "Axel! Apaan sih, lo?! Lepasin gak?!"
Namun, postur badannya yang jauh lebih tinggi dariku, serta tubuhnya yang tegap membuatku kesulitan untuk melawan. Ia justru semakin mengeratkan dekapannya, hingga membuatku kesulitan untuk bergerak.
"Lo nggak biasanya grogi gini. Jangan-jangan... lo mulai naksir gue, ya?" godanya di ceruk leherku.
Aku berusaha menyikut perutnya sebisa mungkin. "Gak usah kepedean deh, lo!" Lalu menjauhkan wajah untuk menghindari wajah Axel yang semakin mendekat. "Ngapain juga gue naksir sama cowok ingusan kayak lo."
Nada suaraku terdengar ragu di telingaku sendiri. Meski aku yakin tidak mungkin menyukainya, entah kenapa dadaku justru berdesir saat mengucapkan kalimat itu.
"Serius, lo?" godanya lagi tepat di lubang telingaku.
Dalam sekejap, bulu kudukku meremang setelah suaranya yang serak menggelitik lubang telingaku. Ditambah lagi, tonjolan dari kejantannya yang begitu dekat terus menggesek bokongku yang masih belum mengenakan pakaian dalam."Axel, gue nggak bercanda ya. Cepat lepasin gue!"
Bukannya menurut, dia justru mendorong tubuhku hingga menempel ke dinding kaca, mengunci pergerakanku di sana.
"Ah! Axel!" Pekikku begitu tubuhku menempel di dinding kaca. "Sialan lo ya! Lepasin gue bilang!"
"Kenapa gue harus nurut? Lo kan istri gue. Jadi... gue boleh dong nikmatin tubuh lo."
Deg! Jantungku seketika mencelos. Entah kalimat itu hanya godaan atau bahasa spontan yang lolos begitu saja dari mulut pria normal sepertinya.
Namun yang pasti, kalimat itu sukses membuat detak jantungku semakin tak terkendali.
'Sial! Aku tidak mungkin punya keinginan untuk bercinta dengannya, kan?' rutukku dalam hati.
Tidak. Jangan sampai itu terjadi. Aku yakin respon tubuhku ini terjadi karena usiaku yang saat ini sudah lebih dari sembilan belas tahun. Kemungkinan hal ini disebabkan oleh dorongan hormon di tubuhku yang sedang bergejolak.
"Lo jangan bercanda, Axel. Kita sudah sepakat gak akan ngelakuin itu. Lagipula lo sepupu gue! Lo tega?!"
"Tapi gue cowok normal, Kayla..." sangkalnya dengan tegas diiringi seringai nakal.
Aku sangat mengerti di usia Axel yang sudah dua puluh empat tahun, ia pasti memiliki keinginan yang besar untuk melakukan seks. Di tambah lagi dia adalah pemain basket yang mempunyai stamina tinggi.
Tapi tetap saja, aku adalah sepupunya. Rasanya masih sulit dipercaya jika aku harus berhubungan badan dengan pria yang sudah sering bermain denganku sejak kecil.
Lagipula, di kampus Axel terkenal sebagai cowok playboy yang punya banyak cewek. Aku yakin dia pasti sudah sering berhubungan badan dengan cewek-cewek itu. Jadi... tidak ada alasan dia harus menyentuhku juga.
"Gue nggak mau!" tolakku, lalu berbalik badan menghadapnya saat mendapat celah. "Lo kan punya banyak cewek. Main aja sama mereka. Jangan gue!"
Dengan gerakan cepat, aku menyundul alat vitalnya yang bergelantungan bebas menggunakan lutut.
"Aww!" Axel memekik sambil mencengkeram keperkasaannya itu dengan kedua tangan.
Bersama dengan itu, aku langsung mendorongnya dan berusaha untuk melarikan diri.
"Kayla!"
"Sorry... gue terpaksa!" Aku berlari sekencang mungkin hingga keluar kamar.
Namun sialnya, Axel berhasil menangkapku tepat di ruang dapur dengan tubuh yang masih telanjang, lalu mendekap tubuhku dari belakang. "Lo pikir bisa lari dari gue?"
"Lepasin gue Axel! Lo nggak benar-benar ingin bercinta sama gue, kan?!"
"Gue mau..." sahutnya, sukses membuatku sangat shock.
"Ryan, you don't need to change. You did those things for Sophie because you wanted to. With me, they felt like work. You were exhausted, and so was I."He stood among the crowd while everyone else watched the sky. His eyes never left me."I didn't come to argue. I came to tell you I truly understand how wrong I was.""You understand because I left. Had I stayed, you'd still call me dramatic and dismiss everything I loved as empty pageantry."He stepped closer and pulled something from his pocket, trying to press it into my palm."Han, I got the brooch back. My mother meant it for you."I withdrew my hand, and the brooch fell onto the grass."No, Ryan. She meant it for your wife, and I'm not her."He bent quickly, picked it up, and closed his fingers around it."I'm sorry.""You've said that many times. You should save one apology for your mother."If she could have heard what you said about the last gift she left, it would have broken her heart."Instructions sounded throu
I only smiled and said nothing.One afternoon, I came across a viral video online.It was the same clip Sophie had posted after graduation.Ryan stood in a suit, thanking everyone for looking after her.The comments overflowed with excitement."Where do I find a mentor like this?""He's more romantic for her graduation than my boyfriend is for my birthday. He complains about buying one cake, and this man ordered three tiers.""Are you two together yet? He obviously loves you. It'd be criminal not to date him."My finger paused, then I scrolled past.A few days later, Sophie called me for the first time.Her voice was hoarse when I answered."Hannah, Ryan won't speak to me. He says the video damaged his life and forced me to delete my account, but it was real footage. I didn't generate it."Now he's angry and refuses to help me. He promised to find me a job, but I've heard nothing."Please help me."I continued editing a work document."Help you with what?"Her energy re
Rachel frowned at him."Ryan, Hannah's gone.""That's impossible. She wouldn't leave without saying anything.""She did say goodbye. She celebrated her twenty-eighth birthday with us, then left."Ryan stopped breathing.His mouth opened slowly."Her birthday... when was it?""Yesterday."Rachel rolled her eyes. "You didn't know?"The room seemed to tilt around him.Yesterday, he'd told Hannah she embarrassed him and made his life exhausting.Then he'd picked up Sophie's parents, spent the evening drinking with them, and stayed at the hotel until morning.He'd become accustomed to Hannah being understanding and undemanding.No cake for her birthday. No anniversary dinner. Everything could be kept simple.So he'd forgotten the date entirely."Did... did you celebrate with her?""Obviously. Who else was going to do it?"Rachel tapped her phone and showed him a video.Hannah sat at the center of a round table with a modest cake in front of her.When she closed her eyes t
"Hannah used to keep all kinds of things here. There was always a single flower in a tiny vase, and she changed the picture in that frame every few days."She also had a desk calendar. The first thing she did every morning was turn the page because she said it made time feel real."And she kept a stack of notes about good restaurants. Whenever someone in the office had a birthday, Hannah was the one who booked the table."Then, little by little, all of it disappeared."The employee sighed, clearly saddened by the memory.Ryan stood speechless.He remembered the small vases Hannah used to place around their old rental, changing the water every day and replacing each flower when it wilted.One week she bought sunflowers. The next, pale lisianthus.Ryan had called the habit fussy and inconvenient until she put the vases away.He never saw them again.She'd also researched a different restaurant for almost every date.Some were suited to birthdays, some to anniversaries, and som






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