𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 | 𝟏𝟖+

10 | Bedsheets

A slight breeze sways the towels and bedsheets as they drape from the lines. It's relaxing, in away, to watch the linens blow in any way they desire. There's not a care in the world, nor a fear. I wish I could have that, yet my mind keeps entangling itself in constant overthinking.

It's a pattern I can never escape.

Although Cato and Gemma stay long past dinnertime, Evelyn made no indication that they plan to stay overnight. Besides, Cato only lives across the city, and he can just summon one of his drivers to fetch him if he's had too much to drink.

It's better that he stays away from here. It'd deter him from sneaking into my room with that key I gave him long ago, a key he refuses to toss away. A part of me wishes for him to sneak into my bedroom and affirm my thoughts about our attraction. Yet, it's better that he stays away.

It makes me less of a stupid fool.

Fortunately, the sheets around me form a sort of shield from the estate, which means I don't have to see Cato with Gemma through any of the windows.

I'm completely hidden from view.

Yet, why do I feel like Cato's forest green eyes are on me? He analyzes me like I'm another constellation he needs to chart—memorizing every curve, every motion, and I feel the heat of it down in my core.

Am I imagining this? Maybe I'm so caught up with him that I just feel like his eyes are on me, when his attention should be on Gemma.

Gemma.

Her name makes me want to gag.

"I thought I saw you out here."

The sound unravels every tense muscle in my body, and I find myself turning towards the husky rumble of Cato's voice. He's dressed in formal slacks and a jacket, but his shirt remains slightly wrinkled and his top few buttons are undone. A chestnut curl drapes down into those mesmerizing green irises.

"Don't you have a fiancé to be with?" I chide, immediately regretting my choice of words. I can't speak to Cato like that. He only knows me as a submissive handmaiden.

Cato chuckles. "She left an hour ago with a migraine."

"Oh," I study his face for an answer. His lip twitches downward a bit, but aside from that, he keeps his expression stone. "She seems lovely." A lie.

"Yeah, she really is..." He takes a step towards me. "My father seems to really like her. He even says she's a perfect match for success."

But I know Evelyn doesn't like her. She despises Gemma almost as much as I do, and Audwin only sees her as a gateway to business affiliations. Somehow, Cato wants to make his parents prouder, although he's falling short with Evelyn. Cato's been making his parents proud for years by becoming the world's most renowned astronaut, and now he strives to marry the one woman whose family possesses just as much of a fortune as the Leveque's.

Maybe that rash jealousy coursing through my veins distorts my opinion of her. I've never spoken with her, and what I know about her comes from Evelyn.

Cato clears his throat when he can tell I'm no longer listening. "I apologize for bringing up the soup spill."

"You don't have to..."

"I just felt bad when that other girl returned with the coffee and not you. Did I offend you?"

That other girl? He means Annie, the same Annie that could possibly be more infatuated with him than I am.

I continue hanging the sheets and correct him, "Her name's Annie."