Boundaries With My CEOChapter 1

I was the textbook definition of a "velcro girlfriend." If I could have spent twenty-four hours a day physically fused to my boyfriend’s side, I would have.

I was in the middle of my nightly routine—clinging to his neck and begging for one more goodnight kiss—when a flicker of strange, translucent text drifted across my vision like a live stream comment section.

[Is this side-character actually brain-dead? Can’t she see the Lead is doing a tactical lean-back?]

[For real. He doesn’t even want to touch her.]

[He only dated her to keep the "crazy fans" away. She really thinks she’s the love of his life? Delusional.]

[Almost there, guys! The real Heroine is about to make her entrance. Our little stage-five clinger is getting the boot any minute now!]

I stared at the floating words, my heart dropping into the pit of my stomach. My fingers, which had been laced tightly behind Cade’s neck, slowly began to lose their grip.

In the next second, Cade lifted his head. His eyes were dark, shadowed with a touch of the irritation that comes from being interrupted. His voice was a low, honeyed rasp.

"Why’d you stop?"

...

* * *

My heart gave a violent squeeze.

My eyes darted around the room, unable to meet Cade’s gaze. Under his piercing look—the kind that felt like he was peeling back layers of my skin—I reached down and gripped the silk sheets, whispering, "I’m just... tired."

Cade didn’t say anything. He just watched me for a long beat, probably trying to figure out if I was glitching.

After a moment, he rolled over, his back to me. His voice was flat, impossible to read. "Then sleep."

Staring at the broad, cold expanse of his back, I felt like I’d just swallowed a mouthful of ash. It was bitter and suffocating.

I sat up and clicked off the lamp.

As I lay back down in the dark, the words from that "comment" kept looping in my brain. I shifted toward the very edge of the mattress, leaving a vast, empty canyon of space between us. I did my absolute best to stay as far away from Cade as possible.

I didn’t dare press against him like a heat-seeking missile the way I usually did.

Maybe if I stop being so much, I thought, he’ll hate me a little less.

In the silence, I heard his steady, rhythmic breathing, but my mind was miles away. To be honest, it wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed. I wasn’t that blind. Cade had always been lukewarm. Whenever I tried to get close, I felt that split-second of tension in his frame, a subtle rigidity.

But I loved him so much it made me stupid. I wanted to be his shadow, his accessory, his constant.

Cade never complained out loud. But looking back, those tiny furrows between his brows, the way his jaw tightened—they were all flashing red lights. He didn't want this.

I’d just been playing dumb. I’d lied and told him I was scared to live alone just so I could move into his place. Then, I’d pushed for more, invading his bedroom until I was a permanent fixture, wrapping my limbs around him every night like an octopus.

He hadn’t kicked me out, sure. But his first instinct was always to resist. I’d just been so desperate to be with him that I’d filtered out the truth.

Now it seemed the comment was right.

The air in the room felt heavy. I tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning, finally drifting into a fitful sleep.