Page 64 of Play Room Actor

“I don’t think it’s contagious,” I texted back with a smile. “But I can’t leave him alone like this.”

“No worries. I get it. See you tomorrow for a walk?”

“Yeah, see you then!”

I lounged on the couch for a while, noting that Kilian didn’t have a TV. His laptop was open, and when I moved the mouse, the Netflix interface appeared. He probably wasn’t big on password-protected content.

My eyes drifted to the ice cream. The box had been sitting out for a while, the top layer already melted. I decided to grab it, along with the orange juice, and headed to the kitchen. Placing the lid back on the tub of ice cream, I stored it in the freezer. To my surprise, there were several boxes of ice cream, all the same flavor: Mövenpick Salted Caramel Vanilla.

I didn’t realize he had such a sweet tooth. Kilian was slim and didn’t seem to have an ounce of excess fat. The fact that he had this much ice cream stashed away was a bit of a shock.

I poured some orange juice into a glass, topped it off with water, and then returned to the living room. I picked some random series to watch on Netflix. Eventually, I ordered Thai noodles and fried rice. Once Kilian woke up, he’d probably be famished, especially after sleeping all day.

I had just finished eating when the sliding door to the bedroom opened around nine o’clock and Kilian emerged. His hair was messier than before, and he looked weak and pale.

“Hey,” I said, turning down the volume on the laptop.

Without a word, Kilian came over to the couch, crawled next to me, and rested his head in my lap. “You’re still here,” he murmured, holding on to me weakly.

“Yeah,” I replied, surprised, not sure where to put my hands. Hesitantly, I placed one hand on his arm and stroked his head with the other. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered, his eyes closed. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For staying.”

It was a strange role reversal for me since I wasn’t exactly known for being persistent with people—work was different, but otherwise, I usually let go. On the other hand, I was quickly becoming clingy when I got attached to someone—and Kilian was well on his way to finding his way into my heart.

“Do you feel any better?” I asked, concerned.

“What are you watching?”

“Kilian?”

He lowered his gaze sheepishly. “I told you, I just need to sleep it off. I’ll be fine. Ah … The Boys.”

“There’s still rice if you want some.”

“Ice cream?”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t raided your stash.”

We were silent for a while, watching the series. Every now and then, Kilian would shut his eyes and enjoy me scratching his head.

“Can I ask you something?” I finally said.

“Mm-hmm,” he murmured.

“Were you heartbroken?”

“No.”

“Then why the ice cream?”

“I told you, I just wanted to treat myself.”

“With ice cream?”