Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 26

Kata only stayed briefly after the introductions. After she left, River explained that he knew Kata from middle school. She lived in Clarksville before she moved away during high school. She was in her freshman year of college and came back during the break just to see River. Apparently, she's the one who taught River about the popularity effect. The way River talked about her... it made me uneasy. Mia fell asleep on my lap in the living room as River talked nonstop about Kata. I sighed as I rubbed Mia's back.

"River," I stopped him.

"I'm glad you got to see your old friend again, but it's time to get Mia to bed," I said. Honestly, I just wanted him to stop talking about Kata. The way he talked about her was like she was a deity. There was technically nothing wrong with it, but my gut was telling me to be wary of her.

"Are you okay, Lu?" He asked as he took Mia off my lap and held her. I wanted to say something, but I plastered a smile on my face instead.

"I'm fine, just a little tired," I lied as I stood. I went up to my room and got dressed for bed. Soon after, River came into my room. I set my laptop aside as River sat in front of me. He held my hand in his gently.

"Something's wrong," he said intuitively. I sighed before looking at him.

"It's just... you seem to be really close to Kata," I risked saying.

"Does that bother you?" He asked.

Yes.

I shook my head and smiled regardless. I didn't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill just yet. Even though my gut said I should be weary of Kata, I trusted River, and I didn't want to cause any conflict between us when nothing had happened yet anyway. Kata seemed to be important to River. I didn't want to be that girl that made her boyfriend get rid of his friends who were girls because she looked jealous. I didn't want to look jealous.

"Kata invited me out tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?" He asked. I hated the idea. I hated the thought of leaving River alone with her, but I didn't want to hover either.

"Have fun. Someone has to stay and watch Mia, and I don't think she liked Kata very much," I passed. River kissed my head before turning the lights out and getting in the bed with me. I felt so uneasy about Kata, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

***

The next morning, I woke up alone. River was already gone by the time I woke up. I got dressed before pulling my laptop into my lap and working on my book. Before I struggled with what to use for a point of conflict with my main characters, but with Kata's sudden appearance, I finally found it. It didn't take a genius to figure out where this was going. One could say that Kata practically groomed River herself. Mia came into my room when she woke up. She was content just laying in the bed next to me as I worked.

Besides eating, we didn't do much. The only other thing I did was contact a few of my dad's friends by email for recommendation letters for college. I emailed to get a few for River as well while I was at it. It was late when River finally got back. I hadn't seen him all day, and Mia was already asleep again. I sat on the couch as I worked on my laptop. I didn't want to admit it, but I was waiting for him. He came home around midnight and took his shoes off by the door. I closed my laptop and set it aside as River sighed and sat next to me.

"How was your day?" I asked.

"It was great. I caught up with Kata. We lost track of time," he said.

"I see that," I muttered. "I emailed some of my dad's colleagues for recommendation letters today, they agreed to give you some recommendation letters as well," I said to change the subject. River sighed before taking a moment.

"You decided that by yourself? You know, you can't do everything for me, Lucky. I'm still a guy. I can't rely on you to do everything for me. If you keep giving me these shortcuts, nothing I achieve will be on my own merit," he argued. I stood quickly and ran my fingers through my hair to push my hair out of my face. I took a second before turned to face River. Kata's claws were finally starting to show.

"Lucky? Since when have you not called me 'Lu'? And the words came out of your mouth, but it doesn't sound like you at all. We already agreed that I would remind my dad's colleagues about the letters. You were fine with it until Kata reappeared," I finally snapped.

"What do you mean?" River asked. I took a breath as I turned my gaze to my feet.

"You've been hanging on to Kata's ever word. I may not be there to know what she's saying exactly, but you weren't thinking like this initially. Suddenly, you resent me and my help. Things we agreed on are a problem. You're out all day, only to come back mad at me, and you don't see the problem?" I ranted. I felt frustrated. It was like I could see the marionette strings coming from River's body. River took a moment before he stood and held my arms gently.

"Lu," he started. I moved his hands off my arms and took a step back.

"Don't 'Lu' me now. You've already said this much," I muttered. River looked a little regretful.

"I didn't mean it like that, Lu," River backtracked.

"I'll give you time to think over which words are really yours, and which aren't. You're clearly confused right now," I said to stop him. I grabbed my laptop and walked past him. He grabbed my arm to stop me before I made it to the stairs.

"Sleep in the guest room tonight," I said before removing my arm and going up to my room.