Chapter 2

Ryan's phone suddenly rang. He glanced at me and put a finger to his lips.

"It's Alex," he said.

Before I could say anything, he answered the call.

Alex's voice came through loud and clear.

"Ryan, go check on Sophie. She's acting up again. Just go and calm her down for me," Alex said.

Ryan just responded with a casual "well" and asked, "How am I supposed to calm her down?"

"That's up to you. As long as you can get her to chill, I'll back you up no matter what.

"But let me warn you, watch out for Sophie. She's just trying to piss me off, saying she wants to date you. Like, seriously? She's aiming too high. Come on, you're not the type to fall for someone like her.

"With women, you can't let them have their way all the time. I'll only go see her when she comes to me and apologizes."

Ryan glanced at me. "Yeah, you're right about that."

He said it with a straight face.

Alex kept talking, "I knew you'd come through for me. Dinner's on me tomorrow, bro. Gotta go. Emily's waiting for me."

Then the line went dead with a beep.

Ryan looked at me. "You've already ordered, right? Let me keep you company. Dinner's on me."

Since I had already ordered, there was no point leaving now. Besides, I loved the food here. "We can eat together, but I can't just let you treat me."

My boyfriend was Alex, not Ryan. I knew I needed to draw a line.

Ryan pulled out his phone with a grin. "I've got a membership card here, so I can get a discount. I'll settle the bill first, and you can pay me back later. By the way, can you add me on WhatsApp?"

I was so surprised by his words, as one needed to drop at least 10,000 to get a membership at this place.

I didn't have that kind of money. Alex always picked up the tab when we ate here, and he had never shared his membership card with me.

This time, he ditched me, so I had to pay for myself.

A meal here cost at least 300. Spending that much really stung. If I had a membership card, I could save about 10%.

I added Ryan in a flash.

His profile picture was a super cute white kitten, totally not his vibe at all.

Seeing my reaction, he explained with a grin, "I found this cat on the street. It was so adorable that I made it my profile pic. Its name's Milo."

I was a total animal lover. I had pretty much played with every stray cat on campus.

But I lived in the campus dormitory. I couldn't adopt any of them.

I never would've guessed that Ryan, who always seemed so unapproachable, was actually such a softie.

Just the fact that he took in a stray cat made me think he was a pretty decent guy.

My opinion of him shot up in an instant.

After we finished eating, Ryan paid with his membership card.

I casually checked my social media.

Emily had posted a bunch of flirty captions about Alex. [Alone in a strange city, I don't know what I'd do without you.]

[Even knowing you have a girlfriend, I just can't help falling for you.]

[Love is selfish. I just want to be with you, openly.]

I laughed, and I guessed she had dropped the act.

Did she post those deliberately to mess with me?

What she did was so gross.

I offered Ryan the money for the meal, but he refused to take it. "I've got this. If it really bothers you, you can treat me next time."

Ryan's impression on me kept getting better and better. Compared to Alex, he was practically the perfect man. I said, "Then I'll treat you next time. Thank you, Ryan."

Ryan smiled, warm and gentle, like a spring breeze. "Alex said I should cheer you up. Any ideas how I should do that?"

"No need, really. Go do your thing," I replied.

Ryan said with total sincerity, "I want to help you out.

"Alex hurt you. I don't want to hang out with him anymore. Don't you want to get back at him?"