Page 10 of Catching Sparkles

“That’s crazy,” I said honestly. If I was into guys, Kendall would have been exactly my type. But I wasn’t into guys. So he wasn’t.

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “People are allowed to have preferences. And I mean, I’ve dated guys who were into me like that. It just… Hasn’t worked out. I don’t know.” He paused, biting down into his lip as he took in a deep, slow breath. “I think I’m just wanting this, like, perfect fantasy relationship with this perfect guy that maybe doesn’t exist.”

“No,” I insisted. There was no way someone like him couldn’t make it work. He was cute, sweet, funny, and working his ass off running his own business. If he couldn’t make a relationship work, then what fucking chance did someone like me have? Zero. “You just haven’t found the right guy yet.”

He brought his knee up to his chest, resting his chin on it as he stared into my eyes. God, his eyelashes were so long and dark. Like a doll’s.

“Yeah. Maybe that’s it,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

The sound of a door creaking open across the hall had both our faces turning toward the noise. He was off my bed like a shot, the thick socks on his feet allowing him to silently pad across the floor and hide behind my open door, so he wasn’t visible from the hallway.

Josie appeared, looking inquisitive as she glanced around my room.

“Were you talking to someone in here?” She wondered. It took every ounce of my self control to prevent myself from glancing over to where Kendall was hidden, plastered against my wall. I didn’t know exactly why he was hiding. We hadn’t been doing anything wrong… Probably.

“Watching videos on my phone,” I lied, glad I’d grabbed it off the arm of my chair before she’d walked up. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”

“Oh, no,” she said, sighing and rolling her eyes before giving her round stomach an affectionate pat. “The baby uses my bladder as a trampoline all night, so…”

“Right,” I said, grinning in sympathy. I couldn’t imagine. “Frequent bathroom breaks.”

“Precisely.”

She waddled into the bathroom, and Kendall and I stared at each other in complete silence for what had to be at least two minutes before she came back out. My heart had sped up in my chest, and I had no clue why.

“Well, try to get some sleep,” she advised me on her way back to the room she was sharing with Benjamin. “Early start tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’m about to crash,” I assured her. “Night.”

When the sound of her footsteps retreating were punctuated by their door closing, Kendall stepped out from his self-imposed hiding spot.

“Um, well… I guess I should…” He trailed off, gesturing toward the hallway.

“Yeah,” I agreed, feeling a little dazed by everything. “Me too.”

“Night, Rhys.”

“Sweet dreams, Sparkles.”

His cute mouth spread into this adorable little grin before he whirled on his heel and hurried out of my room. I sprang up behind him, finally closing my door before I could do something insane like ask him if he’d be okay all by himself in the duck room.

What the fuck was going on inside my head? What was going on with my body, for that matter?

Sex. I needed it. That much was obvious. A problem I would soon be solving with the help of the all-too-eager Brie. And then everything would be back to normal. As normal as a jobless, mid-divorce, living with my parents existence could be, anyway.

KENDALL

THE TRIP TO the Kensingtons’ cabin had been just what I’d needed to come back refreshed and recharged for work. I’d only been back a couple days, but already I’d filmed a bunch of content for my socials. On top of that, my schedule was looking pretty well booked up for the summer. Things were definitely going well, and I had very little to complain about.

Pushing my little cart through the aisles of the store, I snagged my regular purchases off the shelves and tossed them into my cart. In the baking aisle, I eyed all the seasonal items. Alongside the sunshines and flip-flops, there was stuff for pride month, too. Smiling to myself, I picked up a sheet of edible cake decorations, rainbow hearts and flags.

I thought back to baby Kendall, and how I’d been so sure that I’d always have to hide who I was and that no one would ever accept me. Pride flag candies weren’t exactly an indicator that the world was on board, but it was something. I put them back on the shelf, despite how cute they were. I’d be making my own little rainbow candy toppers from scratch, for the June release I’d put up on my online store. I hadn’t decided yet if I was doing cupcakes or mini cheesecakes. A problem for future me.

With my fingers tapping to the beat of the pop song playing through the speakers of the store, I continued my trek to the pharmacy section. I needed to replenish my supply of seasonal allergy meds. My allergies were triggered by pretty much everything in existence. Pollen, dust, pet dander, you name it. And having various liquids constantly leaking from the orifices in my face was not exactly comfortable or sanitary, especially when most of the time I was either on camera, or preparing food for other people.

Maneuvering my cart into the aisle and grabbing my preferred brand, my eyes popped wide as I saw Rhys standing at the other end of the long shelf.

“Oh! Hey!” I said, mostly out of surprise, before I could really consider whether he’d want to see me or not. Things at the cabin had gotten… Strange. The talk we’d had that last night had been so intimate I’d wanted to melt.