Chapter 9
NINE
Kye
The first thing I notice when I open my eyes is that my left arm is numb.
The second? I’m about two inches from falling face-first off the side of Sienna’s tiny twin-sized bed.
“Shit,” I mutter, sitting up too fast and catching my shoulder on the edge of her wall. I wince, rubbing it as I blink blearily around the small bedroom.
Sunlight filters in through the cheap, too-thin curtains, catching in the tousled waves of Sienna’s hair as she stretches and yawns beside me, still curled in the middle of the mattress like the most gorgeous space-hog I’ve ever seen.
My back is already sore. My knees hang off the foot of the bed and my spine is halfway twisted from sleeping at an angle, and I couldn’t care less.
Last night was… everything.
Sienna curls toward me, still half-asleep, and giggles as she catches sight of my awkward position.
“Oh my God, were you falling off the bed?”
“Pretty much,” I grunt, rubbing the back of my neck. “You’re a bed hog, you know that?”
She pouts as she drags her fingers gently over my chest. “Sorry. I’m a starfish sleeper. Comes with being single for too long.”
I grab her hand and kiss her knuckles. “You know what helps with that?”
“What?”
“Getting a bigger bed.”
She hums, her smile sleepy. “Mmm. Maybe someday.”
“Or…” I pause, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “You could move in with me.”
Her eyes open all the way, wide and startled. “Kye…”
I hold up a hand. “Hear me out. I hate that you’re still here. It’s cramped, it’s noisy, and I barely fit in this bed. My house has more space than I know what to do with. You could have your own room—or not. Whatever you want. I just… I want you there. With me.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, her gaze shifting to where our fingers are still twined on the blanket. “I can’t.”
I go still. “What do you mean you can’t?”
Sienna pulls her hand back gently and sits up, tugging the sheet with her. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to. I just… you’re my boss, Kye.”
I stare at her, trying to understand the logic behind the words. My chest tightens.
“So?”
“So,” she says, her voice gentle, “what happens if this doesn’t work out? I lose my job. I lose everything . And I can’t risk that, not right now. I just got here. I’m still figuring everything out.”
I nod slowly, feeling like I’ve been punched in the gut.
She’s still figuring things out.
I thought we were it .
I lean back, the warmth from last night cooling fast. “Right.”
“Kye…”
I force a smile. “It’s okay. I get it.”
She doesn’t press, and I don’t push. I finish getting dressed, brushing her cheek with a kiss before grabbing my keys and helping her pack up for work.
We drive back to the cabin in silence.
Sienna hums along with the radio, tapping her fingers on her thigh like everything’s normal, but I sense her nerves.
How do I go back to before? How do I pretend everything is okay? Like we didn’t sleep together. Like I didn’t offer her everything and get told no.
And the worst part?
I know she didn’t mean to hurt me.
But that doesn't stop it from stinging.
By the time we pull into the driveway, I’ve got a knot in my stomach and a vise around my ribs.
We unload the car and head straight into the studio. Sienna unpacks tools and supplies like it’s just another day.
I’m quieter than usual. Not that it’s out of the norm for me, but this feels different. Heavy.
Sienna doesn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she does and doesn’t want to say anything.
I try to shake it off. We’ve got a few new pieces we picked up earlier in the week—an old rocking chair and a bookshelf that’s seen better days. Usually, I’d be excited to get started. But today?
I feel off. Unsteady.
I duck out around mid-morning and head inside, claiming I need to take a call.
Which is only partially a lie.
I grab my phone and sink onto the couch in the living room, staring at the screen for a minute before hittingCamden’s number.
He answers on the second ring. “Yo.”
“You busy?”
“Nope. Lymric’s got me painting our bedroom, and I’ve been standing here for ten minutes trying to figure out which shade of white is less white.”
I huff a quiet laugh. “Sounds brutal.”
He chuckles. “You okay, man? You sound like you’re about to punch a hole through something.”
I stare at the floor for a second, running a hand over my jaw. “I think I screwed up.”
“What happened?”
I tell him everything. About spending the night with Sienna. About my offer for her to move in and how she said no because I’m her boss. She sees this thing between us as temporary, a risk, something she has to protect herself from.
Camden is quiet for a few seconds. “Kye, you’ve been alone for a long time. But you can’t expect her to be all in immediately because you are.”
“I’m not mad at her,” I mutter. “I just… I thought we were on the same page.”
“Maybe you are. Maybe she’s scared. Hell, I was scared out of my damn mind when I met Lymric. It took me a few days to admit how I felt, even to myself.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a few days. I can’t keep playing it cool when I feel like this.”
“Then stop playing it cool,” he says. “Talk to her. Lay it all out. Tell her what this means to you.”
“And what if it pushes her away?”
“What if it doesn’t?”
I close my eyes. “I don’t know if I can take the chance.”
“You have to. If you care about her like I think you do, you owe her the truth. Don’t let your silence be the reason you lose her.”
I sit there long after we hang up, staring out the window toward the studio.
I don’t move even when Meyer, my longtime friend, calls, responding to a text I sent earlier. He just moved back to town and has been busy settling into his new place. I’ve been meaning to go see him, but then I met Sienna and became… distracted.
Meyer doesn’t know all the details, but he knows enough. When I tell him what happened, his advice is almost identical to Camden’s.
“You’re a good man, Kye,” he says. “But you overthink everything. That girl’s not like the rest. She’s sunshine wrapped in a second chance. Don’t waste it.”
Sunshine wrapped in a second chance.
Yeah.
That’s exactly what she is.
I glance toward the studio and spot her through the open doors, crouched beside the rocking chair, running her fingers along the grooves in the wood.
She’s probably humming again. She always hums when she’s focused, like it helps keep her grounded.
And me?
She’s the only thing that keeps me grounded.
I can’t lose her.
I won’t.
I take a deep breath, push off the couch, and head outside, already trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to say.
Because Camden’s right.
Meyer’s right.
I’ve got to lay all my cards on the table.
Even if it terrifies me.
Even if I have everything to lose.