Page 6 of Stay With Me

“Oh my gosh, who is this?” Adeline coos at Kimchi, who is wriggling between all of us after being freed from her room. Young Jae turned his third empty bedroom into a dog room for her so she has space to roam when she’s alone, but not so much to get into a lot of mischief.

“Kimchi,” Young Jae and I say in unison.

We settle in the living room, playing with Kimchi as I fill in Rae and Adeline on what happened yesterday.

“I just looked around me and realized that he’d been taking me for granted for years and it was never going to get any better. And I realized I couldn’t do it anymore. I gave him way too many chances because of the time we had together.” Giving them a smile, I emphasize, “It was the best choice I could’ve made. Probably one I should’ve made sooner.”

Rae squeaks a toy, throwing it for Kimchi. “You needed to get there on your own. I’m glad you feel good about it.”

Owen comes in, laying out burgers on the table before presenting a bottle of champagne.

Adeline raises her brows at the bottle. “Champagne?”

“We’re celebrating. Look at Elise. When was the last time you saw her looking so rested and relaxed?” Owen gestures at me. “Champagne was necessary.”

“Um, I’m right here.” Pointing at myself, I laugh. “But you’re right, I do feel relaxed.”

We all chow down, demolishing the burgers before Young Jae pops the champagne and Adeline cuts the cake. By the time everyone leaves it’s late and I’m absolutely wiped. Somehow an afternoon celebration morphed into the evening as well. More food ordered and more champagne flowed. Despite the exhaustion, my heart is full.

Saying goodnight, I head upstairs with Kimchi on my heels.

I’ve left my phone on do not disturb all day, but I take it out of my pocket to see a string of messages from Jake.

Scanning them, they’re more of the same from last night, but I don’t respond.

Kimchi snuggles against me and, for the second night in a row, I fall asleep without anxiety keeping me up.

Chapter Three

Young Jae

Startledawakebyaloud sound, I hear Elise whisper yell, “Ouch. Shit that hurt.”

Her footsteps fade as she goes downstairs and I glance at my phone to check the time.

4:45 a.m.! My eyes practically bug out of my head. It never dawned on me how early Elise wakes to get to Perk Up and have everything ready for her 7:00 a.m. open time.

Groaning, I roll out of bed and pull on some shorts and a T-shirt. May as well make her breakfast and start my day too. I wash up in the bathroom before padding down the stairs. Elise is standing by the back door, waiting for Kimchi to be done doing her business.

She doesn’t notice me, looking rested as she smiles at whatever antics Kimchi is getting into. Elise was beautiful as a teenager when we met, but she is stunning as a woman. Her quiet confidence is alluring.

Running my hand through my hair, I give my head a shake. I shouldn’t be noticing how attractive or appealing she is. I locked those feelings up years ago.

“Morning.” My voice is rough with sleep.

Elise jumps, turning with her hand pressed into her chest. “You scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t expecting to see you this early.”

“Not used to the extra sounds in the house,” I rumble, my voice groggy from sleep. Heading into the kitchen, I scrub my hands down my face. Coffee. I need coffee. Turning on the coffee pot, I’m grateful I had the foresight to prep it last night. It doesn’t take long for me to throw together breakfast for us. Using some leftover bulgogi, I make a Korean-style breakfast bowl.

Elise lets Kimchi in before pouring coffee and setting the table. Despite the early hour, I admit having her here in the morning is nice. Glancing at her, I appreciate that she’s wearing jeans and a flowery top instead of her typical evening attire. I’ve always found her attractive, but seeing her dressed down is inexplicably hot. It’s opened my eyes to seeing her in a way I’ve never had the chance to before. A way that I don’t need to be looking at my best friend.

“I’m sorry I woke you. I bashed my funny bone on the hall table. It jumped out at me, I swear.” She chuckles softly. “Thank you for breakfast.”

Mumbling a “no problem,” I devour my food still half asleep. Sipping at my coffee while I wait for her to finish, I ponder how I’m going to pass several extra hours of awake time.

As I move to clean up, she holds out her hand to stop me. “You cooked, I clean. It’s only fair. You saved me time making breakfast, and I would’ve cleaned up after myself anyway.”

It’s useless to argue with Elise, so I move into the living room and call Kimchi to my lap. I never had any pets as a child. My parents were so busy in Korea working that they didn’t want the responsibility. And that continued when we moved here. They didn’t see the value in an animal when there was so much work to do and school to focus on.

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