Chapter Twenty-One Han
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HAN
K enny and I didn’t stop taking turns playing chivalrer after leaving the wedding. I opened the car door for him when we left the rideshare and headed up to our apartment. Kenny got the apartment door, then stepped aside with a bow.
“After you,” he said in a flirty voice slightly lower than his usual.
I laughed and walked inside, greeting Luna right away. Even though I wasn’t usually much of a parties guy, I had to admit the wedding had been fun. In fact, I’d had such a good time, I almost didn’t want the night to end. So instead of going to my room, I took my time petting Luna, hoping Kenny might stay to hang out.
Unfortunately, he continued down the hall to his room. I sighed. Maybe it was okay that the night was over. It wasn’t like it was our last chance at playing a “real in-love couple.”
Kenny’s door never opened. Instead, his voice called out from the hallway.
“Oh, however will I get to bed with this door in the way?” he asked playfully, and I realized he wanted me to take my turn opening his door.
I laughed and met him right outside his room. I reached for the doorknob, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it and officially end the night. I pulled my hand away.
“Um, so…” Kenny looked up at me for a moment before giving a shy little lip bite. “I mean, we did already break the rule tonight, right?”
“Yeah, we did,” I said breathlessly.
Kenny took a step closer. “Is there anything else you want to do? Like, before the rule goes back in place…”
Oh my God, the romantic-comedy-new-relationship-good-night-doorstep-kiss.
I didn’t know why Kenny set the no-kissing rule, but I didn’t want him to feel like he had to break it again just for me to check something off an arbitrary list when no one was even around to see.
“Only if you want to.” I knew the hall outside our bedrooms wasn’t exactly a doorstep, but that hardly mattered.
“For good luck.” He smiled, then put a hand on my cheek and slid it behind my neck, pulling me down as he stood on his toes.
His lips softly pressed against mine for a tiny moment before he pulled away, leaving me leaning after him at the loss of contact.
He smiled all big. “Congratulations on losing your doorstep-kiss virginity.”
“Thanks.” I laughed, not bothering to correct him on the exact verbiage. “So, the rule’s back on?”
Kenny nodded, but there was something to his expression I couldn’t quite read.
“Okay. Good night, then,” I said, trying to hold myself together enough that he wouldn’t realize how desperately I wanted to do that again.
“Good night.” Kenny turned, letting me open his door before disappearing into his room. I did the same, closing my door behind me and leaning my back against it.
Maybe I wanted just a little more time with the illusion before it shattered. Maybe I wanted more than just a fake version of a rom-com staple. I wasn’t sure what came over me, but I swung my door back open, only to see Kenny’s door swinging open, too, and we were suddenly face-to-face.
“Maybe just one more?” I asked, and at the same time Kenny said:
“It was a stupid rule.”
And we crashed into each other.
This time was different. We weren’t kissing to fool anyone, or to check something off a list. This time we kissed because we wanted to. For the first time in my life, I felt like I understood what all the hype was around kissing.
Kissing, touching, and sex had always been something I did when I had nothing better to kill the time with. I always felt like the other person was experiencing something I couldn’t comprehend.
Until now.
Now I didn’t know if anything made sense to me but this. In the past I’d acted like I didn’t know why all my relationships with girls failed. I pretended it was simply fear of commitment, but I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. The truth was I didn’t really want them.
The realization hit me like a semi, and I suddenly pulled away from Kenny, whose eyes fluttered open in surprise.
“Is something wrong?”
“I just…” I wanted to give him something to go off of, but what was I supposed to say? Sorry, I just realized I’ve had feelings for you this entire time? I couldn’t put that on him. Besides, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to jump into anything literal seconds after realizing I was the cause of every one of my past relationships failing. And if Kenny didn’t feel the same about me, I didn’t want him to feel any kind of pressure for the marriage to be anything other than what we’d planned. If I wasn’t careful, my stupid feelings could ruin everything. “I uh… I guess I had more to drink than I thought.”
It was a horrible lie, and I felt awful for breaking our one roommate rule of not bullshitting each other, but I couldn’t do this. Not yet.
“Wait, you’re drunk?” Kenny asked, his eyes widening slightly. “I didn’t realize—”
“It’s cool.” I forced a laugh. “I should go to bed though.”
I didn’t wait for Kenny to chivalrously open the door for me. I just turned around and went back to my room, leaving Kenny in the hallway with no explanation.
I’d hardly gotten any sleep when my alarm woke me up the next morning for Sunday cleaning. Despite barely getting any rest, I was up before Kenny, so it was my job to wake him up, no matter how much I hated doing that. There was no sleeping in on Sundays (Kenny’s rule, not mine), so I went into his room and nudged his shoulder.
“No!” Kenny shouted as he bolted upright at the contact, eyes shooting open as he swung his arm and hit me right in my mouth.
I laughed despite the pulsing in my lip.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Kenny said, hand covering his mouth.
“I’m fine. It’s all good,” I said as I sucked in my bottom lip to check for the taste of blood. Nothing.
Kenny gently touched my lip with his index finger and inspected it. His gaze slowly rose to meet mine and then went back down to my lips. Warmth rose in my cheeks, and I swore Kenny could sense the skipped pulse in my heart with how close we were.
I cleared my throat. “So, um… about last night.”
“The rule’s officially back on,” Kenny said with a nod, like he knew I’d want to erase that last kiss from existence. Even if I really didn’t, both of us having selective amnesia about it was for the best. “Sunday cleaning, right?” he asked through a yawn.
“Yup,” I answered as I helped him out of bed.
We followed our normal Sunday routine, making both our beds in record time. Then we rushed out to clean the rest of the house. After dusting and tidying everything up, we were on to our final chores. Dishes for me and vacuuming for Kenny.
“You still doing that show tonight?” I called out over the sound of clanking dishes, running water, and the Luna-repellant vacuum screaming.
“Of course,” Kenny said, and I swear his face lit up at the reminder of his upcoming drag performance. Hell, I couldn’t wait, either. I had to admit, seeing Kenny in his element like that was incredible. Ten out of ten, would watch anytime.
After a celebratory pizza, Kenny and I started getting ready for work. But the last place I wanted to be was alone in his car with nothing to distract from all the weirdness.
“You okay?” Kenny asked as he parked behind the restaurant. “You’re all broody this morning.”
Shit, I hadn’t meant to be broody. I didn’t want Kenny feeling anything was off after last night.
“Yeah, just tired as hell.” Sure, it wasn’t what was actually on my mind, but I’d barely slept last night, so it was true. I was really getting the hang of this whole acting thing, using the realness to get across the fakeness, or whatever.
“I think I have some 5-Hour Energy in here somewhere,” Kenny said, shuffling through his bag, then pulling out a small bottle of the stuff.
“Gross, dude. How long has that been in there?”
“Mmm, probably like, less than two weeks?”
“I’ll pass.” I laughed, glad Kenny didn’t seem too bothered.
We went into work holding hands again, which I was grateful for. At least we got to do that. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure how I felt about PDA in front of Daniel. Getting an order wrong last week had gotten me a complaint, so I was on thin ice.
But Daniel stayed in his office for most of our shift, so I let myself loosen up. Besides, Kenny was a hard man to ignore. Especially since I wanted so badly to make up for the night before. I blew Kenny a kiss as he walked by, and he lit up as he blew one back, opening the dam.
Kenny was a little over-the-top with his flirting, but I had to admit it was fun. I liked pretending to catch the kisses he blew at me. Fake flirting with Kenny made working so much better. I hated my job, but the shift went by much faster when I let loose. I was so preoccupied, I almost missed my break. Finally able to let my hands breathe, I took off my gloves and headed for the break room.
As I walked through the kitchen, Kenny was passing by with a tray of food and blew me another kiss with his free hand. It was 100 percent overkill, but it was fun so I turned to catch the kiss midair.
“Behind you!” Julia’s voice was too close, and it was too late for me to move out of the way. She dropped her tray of fountain drinks in front of me right as I turned, my bad foot stepping onto the wet floor.
Before I could fall, my ankle jerked at the wrong angle under me, reflexively trying to keep the rest of me upright. But the slippery drinks didn’t allow for balance, and I fell to the ground, clutching my ankle and trying not to scream.
“Oh my gosh! Honey, are you okay?” Julia asked, and it wasn’t until then that I noticed the blood on my hand from catching myself on the floor with broken drink glasses. Several dishwashers were already sweeping the mess, and Kenny rushed to my side, ignoring the warnings to stay away from the shattered glass on the floor. He helped me to my feet—well, my good foot. I let him support my weight as we hobbled over to a chair that Tatiana pulled out of the break room. My cheeks burned.
“Can you move your foot, sweetheart?” Julia asked. I tried pointing my foot, but the pain shot straight up my leg, and I let out a wounded noise.
Daniel came into the kitchen with a solemn look on his face.
“I think his ankle is broken, or at least sprained,” Julia said. “He probably needs to go to the hospital.”
My heart sank. For one, I was sure I was about to be fired. But then again, wasn’t it illegal to fire someone for getting injured on the job? Did legality even matter when it came to me since I was undocumented? I wouldn’t qualify for workers’ comp, but I was probably safe from getting fired, as long as I didn’t miss too much work…
And I obviously couldn’t go to the hospital. I probably wouldn’t even get more than the rest of the day off.
“I’m fine, really,” I lied, sucking my breath in through my teeth and trying to look as fine as I could. Tatiana rushed over with paper towels to catch the blood on my hand.
“Are you okay to work?” Daniel asked. Kenny looked like he wanted to slap the dude, and I kind of wanted him to.
“He has an open wound and a broken ankle. He can’t work,” Kenny said, and I was grateful I didn’t have to say it myself. Even if I could work on one leg the rest of my shift, my hand was busted, and even I was sure working with a bloody hand was some kind of health code violation.
Daniel sighed. “I’ll call someone in. Get yourself cleaned up. I want to see you back here for your shift by Friday. We need all our cooks for the Friday-night rush.”
That gave me more time than I’d expected, honestly.
“Yes, sir.”