Chapter 69: Untitled Chapter

The night air felt heavy and damp, like rain was about to fall but couldn’t make up its mind.

Kendrix stood at the terrace railing, gripping the metal because her hands didn’t know what else to do. The sky wasn’t dark yet. Just that weird in-between color that made everything feel off. She didn’t hear the door behind her.

“So you ran off here?” Roberto said.

Kendrix turned and saw him leaning in the doorway like he owned the place. Seeing him always messed her up in a way she hated.

“I didn’t run,” she muttered. “I just needed air.”

He walked out and stopped next to her. Too close. “Air. Or were you thinking stuff you don’t want me hearing?”

Kendrix stared at the skyline instead of him. The wind blew her hair in her face and she shoved it back, annoyed.

“I was thinking,” she said finally.

Roberto mused. “Great. You get quiet when you're thinking so hard.”

That actually made her snort, but she caught it fast.

She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but it slipped out anyway. “I always wanted to dance in the rain.”

Roberto arched his brow at her. “Dance?”

“Not some fancy ballroom thing,” Kendrix said, staring up. “Just… in the rain. No people, no music. Just stupid and free. And kiss someone in it. Like in those dumb movies where it starts raining and everything stops.”

She cringed right after. “Forget it. That sounded so childish.”

Roberto didn’t answer for a second. Then thunder rolled far away and the first drop hit Kendrix’s hand. Then more dropped fast.

Kendrix laughed without meaning to. “Oh my god, it’s actually raining.”

Roberto moved behind her. So close she could feel his body heat and it made her mad at herself.

“You talk about wishes too much,” he said.

“What does that even mean?” Kendrix asked, turning her wrist when his fingers wrapped around it. He didn’t yank her. Just turned her to face him.

“Some people wait forever for their stupid dream moment,” he said, his thumb brushing her skin while rain started coming down harder. “You don’t wait. You just say it.”

Kendrix’s chest got tight. “So…what?”

The rain was pouring now, soaking her hair and shirt in seconds. Everything went blurry. Roberto stepped closer until she couldn’t pretend there was space between them anymore.

“If you wanted to dance in the rain, you should’ve said it sooner,” he said, voice low.

Before Kendrix could overthink it, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the open. She gasped, water hitting her face, and she was pissed and giddy at the same time.

“Now dance,” he said, like this was normal. Like he had been waiting for her to say it.

Kendrix laughed, actually laughed, while he spun her around. It was messy and her clothes stuck to her and she looked ridiculous. But she was happy. For like two seconds she forgot to be angry at everything. Then she stopped moving. So did he.

The rain ran down his face. He wasn’t doing that cold calm thing anymore. He just looked at her like he was tired of pretending.

Kendrix forgot how to breathe as she stared at him. This time, there were no alarms, no excuses. Just the rain …and him.

The rain didn’t stop. It just got lighter, like the sky couldn’t decide either.

Kendrix stood there a second too long with her hand still on Roberto’s shoulder. His forehead was almost touching hers and she could feel him breathing. Trying to keep it steady. Trying and failing.

“Stay, don't go away,” he murmured.

And that one stupid word hit harder than anything else she had heard all day.

Kendrix swallowed. Her voice came out smaller than she wanted. “If I stay… then what?”

Roberto didn’t answer right away. His hand at her waist shifted, not pulling her closer because she was already there. Like he just needed to check she was real.

“Depends,” he said finally, voice low under the rain. “On if you’re honest about what you actually want.”

Kendrix blinked fast. “I already told you what I want.”

He stared at her mouth for a second too long. “Dance in the rain.”

Her breath caught. “And?”

Something changed between them. Not distance. Pressure.

Roberto looked at her lips again, slower this time. Not pretending he wasn’t.

Kendrix felt it and hated that she did. “And what else?” she whispered before she could stop herself.

Rain ran down her face and she wished it didn’t look so dramatic.

Roberto lifted his hand and brushed her hair back, but his fingers stayed at her neck. Like if he let go she would bolt.

“You talk too much,” he muttered.

Kendrix let out a shaky laugh. “You always say that when you don’t want to answer.”

That got a quiet exhale out of him. Half annoyed, half giving up.

“I’m not avoiding anything,” he said.

“Then what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer. But the quiet wasn’t empty. It was thick. loud, almost.

Roberto leaned in a little more. Kendrix stopped breathing without meaning to. Rain hit her lips and suddenly she was way too aware of his hands, one at her waist, one at her neck. His thumb paused there like he was waiting for her to say no.

She didn’t. She tilted her face up instead. Just a little.

That was it. Roberto kissed her.

Not fast. Not sloppy. Controlled at first, like he had been holding it back forever and was testing if it was okay. The rain made it cold on the outside but it still burned.

Kendrix froze for half a second. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Then her hand tightened on his shoulder because she needed something to hold.

Roberto felt it and kissed her harder. Still holding back, but not as much. More real now. His jaw ticked like he was fighting himself to slow down.

And everything else disappeared. The rain, terrace, all of it. Gone.