WANDERLUST: Romance in F Minor

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

KADE PROPPED his elbow on the dining table as he silently watched Xanthie make breakfast for the both of them. He should be in his studio, painting, but here he was, watching his unrequited love since he was feeling good today.

Well, he had been feeling all right lately. His insomnia had not been acting up, and there were no attacks either. Ever since the night Xanthie first arrived, his good night's sleep had been constant.

Although there was a drawback to his good night's sleep—he had to sleep close to Xanthie for his insomnia to not act up.

And of course, as expected, the straight Xanthie was not bothered by sleeping in the same bed as him at all.

He still remembered Xanthie's second night in his house. He told Xanthie he couldn't sleep properly and his presence would somehow help him alleviate his insomnia, and Mr. Straight Guy just accepted it. Naturally. And let him sleep in the same bed.

"I think I'm going to go crazy..." Kade muttered under his breath and stiffened when Xanthie, who was making breakfast, turned to face him.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Kade mumbled and changed the topic. "Are you not going home to Fey? I mean, I'm pretty sure you don't have a meeting this weekend. You can just come back Monday morning."

"Don't bother yourself with Fey. I call her every day."

Kade frowned at Xanthie's back. He liked that Xanthie was here, but if it was at the expense of Fey feeling bad, he'd rather push Xanthie to go home. "Man, you should go home this weekend. Two weeks is a long time for an engaged couple to be away from each other."

"It's fine."

Xanthie's indifferent response was irritating Kade. He left Montréal to get away from Xanthie and Fey and to give them their privacy because Xanthie had a bad habit of always inviting him over  to eat.

Kade was the one who left so Xanthie could focus more on Fey. After all, Kade had chosen friendship and he wanted Xanthie to be happy. But look at this bastard leaving his soon-to-be wife alone for too long.

Kade clicked his tongue. "Xanthie, your priorities are messed up, man. You should go home this weekend."

"How about your insomnia?"

Kade was looking at Xanthie so incredulously that he wanted to smack his head. "It's just insomnia. I'll live. Go and prioritize your bride for fuck's sake. She's going to be your wife, and you're going to build a family with her." His chest tightened, but he continued. "You have to prioritize her more than anyone."

"Now you sound like Grandfather," Xanthie whispered, but Kade heard him.

"Because that's the right thing to do, Xanthie." Kade let out a loud sigh and leaned back in his seat. "If you're not going to prioritize her, you shouldn't have bothered proposing marriage."

Xanthie didn't respond.

Kade glanced at Xanthie's stiff back. He didn't want to say it because he had been really happy with Xanthie here, but Xanthie was different from him. This guy saw him as a family member—like a brother—but the feeling was not mutual on his side. His feelings for Xanthie were not that innocent.

"Xanthie, you should stop caring for me."

Xanthie became even more rigid, and he looked like he was in utter shock when he turned to look at Kade, his eyes asking for an explanation.

Seeing Xanthie's ugly expression, Kade explained calmly, "I didn't mean it in a bad way. You can call me any time to check up on me—"

"So that you can lie to me over the phone?"