Page 81 of I Replaced His Husband
As I stared out the window, I reflected on my earlier idea, to kiss him, but I realized there was even less space for that than I had thought.
He might have wanted my body, but he didn't love me, and love wasn't in the cards for us, perhaps for a long while.
I had to come to terms with it.
???
When we got to the house, it was around seven in the evening. Since my fingers were still in rough shape, Adam made dinner. To my surprise, Kay joined us and actually ate, though, like me, he mostly just stared at his plate.
Adam and Marco weren’t much for conversation either, so the whole meal passed almost in silence. I figured it was better not to bother Kay with my presence, so I went up to my roomwith my laptop to get some work done. I had a few corrections to make on my part of the app code for Nathaniel, stuff I hadn't been able to finish during this crazy day. Normally, I would’ve sat in Kay’s room, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. He was probably a little surprised I didn’t show up like I had been all week, but I needed a clear head to get through the tweaks faster.
While I worked, a message from Nathaniel popped up on the screen.
"I’ve got a few ideas for an alternate layout for the app. Maybe you could talk to Kay about it?"
I stared at the screen for a few seconds like I was seeing it for the first time. I felt totally out of it, foggy, scattered. Was there even a world beyond this weird little bubble I was stuck in, spinning with all these brooding thoughts?
My cousin’s message felt like it came from another universe. It took a while before I could piece together a response.
"Well, I’d have to ask him. A full layout’s way more work than just a few icons."
"Will you? We could really use his help. I talked to the client yesterday, and he showed me another app he really liked. He kind of hinted that we might take inspiration from its colors and overall vibe, maybe as an alternate skin. So I decided to show him the second icon set Kay designed, the one more gothic, and he got really into it. Looks like he wants the whole app in a similar style. Kay really nailed the tone."
Swallowing, I made an effort to snap into focus. "Okay, I’ll ask him. Send me the name of the other app so he can take a look if he decides to go for it."
Wanting to stretch the conversation a little, and maybe shift my brain off everything else, I added:
"What’s going on with Storm? Is he still living with you? When’s his court date?"
The reply came back almost instantly.
"You haven’t talked to him?"
"No. I’ve been caught up in my own stuff. Got a lot on my mind right now. And we’re not exactly best-buddies brothers, as you know."
"Storm moved into that small house he bought in the suburbs. Remember? The one he got on a whim from that guy he helped find a high mate. The guy was moving in with his new partner and wanted to sell fast. Total bargain. Storm’s fixing it up now. You know he lost his job, and yeah, he’s not in a great place. The court date is soon, I think one week from now."
"He should’ve majored in computer science like we did. He’d still have a job," I typed… and then erased it. No need to rub it in.
There was still no news about how Tom's situation was resolved, so I guessed we'd just have to wait for the official conclusion of Storm's case.
Maybe five minutes passed before another message appeared.
"So… what’s up with you? You’ve been real quiet lately."
Damn. I didn’t feel like diving into my tangled mess of a situation, especially after the day I’d had. Nathaniel didn’t know the real reason I was here, only my dad did. I told Nate I was visiting a college friend for a while, that his brother Kay was a recent widower. Nothing beyond that.
But on the other hand, keeping all this locked up in my head probably wasn’t doing me any favors. I’d been going in circles for days, obsessing over everything. Maybe letting it out would help.
My fingers trembled as I typed,
"I think I might be kinda catching feelings for Kay. But it’s not mutual."
Ugh. There. I said it.
"The widower? Yikes. Not great," he replied, with a sad emoji.
A moment later:
