Chapter 3

“Okay.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was the alcohol or the charged atmosphere.

Looking at Ryan’s handsome face, I grabbed him by the collar and kissed him as if I had lost my mind.

His lips were soft, almost like jelly, and I couldn’t help wanting more.

But when I tried to kiss him again, he moved away. Holding my chin, he asked me repeatedly,

“Claire, look carefully. Do you know who I am?”

“You’re… Ryan.”

Only after hearing my answer did Ryan cradle the back of my head and kiss me.

His kiss was tentative yet excited, fierce yet gentle.

The door lock clicked shut.

Ryan guided me backward until I fell onto the soft bed, as though I were floating through the air.

Our lips and tongues met, and the faint taste of mint filled my senses.

“You know, I always carried mints with me because I used to fantasize about kissing you one day. I wanted to give you an unforgettable memory. Am I the only guy whose kiss tastes like mint? One of a kind, right?”

“Yes, yes. You’re the most special.”

I couldn’t hear anything else.

All I could think about was how soft his lips were and how good he felt to kiss.

“You talk too much.”

A few kisses were no longer enough.

I reached for the buttons of his shirt.

“Claire, are you sure?”

Ryan caught my hand.

Annoyed, I tried to pull free.

“Ryan, why are you taking so long? Can you do this or not? If you can’t, just say so. You’re wasting my time.”

“Damn it, Claire. You’re forcing me.”

Ryan seemed to lose his patience.

He pressed me down with surprising strength.

“What?”

Before I could react, he pinned my hands above my head.

A tingling sensation spread through my body.

“So? Can I do it or not?”

He kept asking me that question throughout the night, until I no longer had the energy to answer.

When I woke up, I wanted to slap myself.

Of all the things I could have done, why had I chosen to provoke Ryan?

The next morning, I woke with a pounding headache and heard an argument downstairs.

“Ryan, why are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?”

“Claire is my girlfriend. You have no right to be here.”

“Your girlfriend? Sorry, but she’s mine now.”

“Ryan, are you insane? You show up in my girlfriend’s bedroom first thing in the morning and claim she’s yours?”

Listening to them, I slowly became more clearheaded.

I went downstairs and slipped my arm through Ryan’s.

“Ethan, I already told you yesterday. We’re over.”

“As for Ryan, he’s my boyfriend now. Of course he can be here.”

“That doesn’t count! I never agreed to it.”

“I was informing you. I wasn’t asking for permission.”

Ethan lunged forward and tried to grab my wrist, but Ryan knocked his hand away.

“Stay away from my girlfriend.”

“Are you disgusting? Claire and I haven’t even broken up, and you’re already moving in. Do you enjoy being the other man?”

“You should be saying that to yourself.”

Ethan hadn’t come home the previous night.

He had probably gone to be with his little girlfriend.

He hadn’t even replied to my breakup message. It made sense that he would lose his mind when he saw the message and his luggage outside the door the next morning.

I opened my phone and enlarged the intimate photos of Ethan and his young girlfriend in front of him.

“Ethan, look carefully. Do you know who’s in these pictures? Don’t push your luck.”

The photo showed him kissing the girl.

As expected, Ethan’s face grew paler and paler.

“Claire, let me explain.”

“There’s no need. The truth is right there, and we’re already over.”

Ethan’s cheating was a fact.

My heart had already gone numb. Disappointment was something that built up over time.

Ryan quietly tightened his grip on my hand, giving me strength.

“Claire, even if I did cheat first, what about you? You threw my luggage outside without saying a word, and the next morning you were already with Ryan. Who knows what you two did? Maybe you’re just trying to make me look guilty.”

Hearing Ethan’s shameless accusation, I questioned my own judgment for the first time.