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“Where did you get these from?” she said.

Ket Siong jerked his head at his phone, charging in a corner. “There’s a Scandinavian café nearby. They deliver. I borrowed a charger,” he added. “I hope that’s OK.”

“Of course.” Renee was smiling helplessly. “I love this kind of thing.” She took a bite out of the cardamom bun, closing her eyes briefly in bliss. “Sweet buns, they’re all I’d eat in heaven.”

Ket Siong was watching her. Renee remembered, suddenly, dragging him into a Chinatown bakery once when they were students. She’d insisted on buying one of every bun. They’d sat in Leicester Square and eaten them together, watching the tourists.

She cast her eyes down. “It’s really good. You’re bringing some home for your family, right?”

“You eat first,” said Ket Siong.

Renee cleared her throat. “Got anything planned for the day?” She glanced at the clock. It was quarter to eight, early for a Saturday. She tended to sleep in on the weekend.

“I’ve got a few classes. You?”

“Got some work stuff to catch up on. There’s never enough time during the week.”

Ket Siong would want to get going. He taught kids music; the weekend was probably his busiest time. It had been sweet of him to buy breakfast.

“This has been nice,” said Renee. “I’ve enjoyed… this.” She flicked her hand in a gesture meaning him, the table laden with coffee and pastries, and the night they’d spent together.

She was a little startled, looking up, to catch Ket Siong looking at her. His face was set, like he was bracing himself for something.

He didn’t need to worry. Renee wasn’t going to angle for another meetup, or ask for his number. She knew that, in the nicest way, the only reason he’d slept with her was because they didn’t have a friendship to ruin anymore.

She opened her mouth, intending to make it clear he wasn’t about to hurt her feelings, because she’d never invested any in their encounter in the first place. But Ket Siong spoke first.

“Yes,” he said. “I’d like to see you again.”

Renee blinked. “Oh.”

It was flattering to be asked. There was no reason it should send a thrill of terror down her spine. She took another bite of the cardamom bun to disguise her reaction, trying to ignore the twisting in her stomach.

An enjoyable hookup with someone she could trust to be discreet was one thing. She couldn’t afford anything more complicated. She had too much going on in her life as it was.

The narrative slotted in place in her head, her heart rate slowing. It sounded good. It held together. It was significantly lessembarrassing than the conviction running underneath it, that she couldn’t let Ket Siong keep looking at her the way he was doing now, because one day he might decide to stop.

She didn’t want to imagine what that would feel like. It had hurt enough the first time around.

This was getting way too close to memories and feelings Renee did not want to look at. The whole point of last night had been to have something nice and affirming after the shitshow of her morning with Jason. She needed to keep this clean, manageable. Under control.

“The thing is,” said Renee, “I told you what’s going on with my family.”

Ket Siong nodded. “Your father is choosing his successor to run the family business.”

Renee leaned forward, anxious to impress the significance of the opportunity on him. “I really think I’ve got a fighting chance. My brothers are approaching their forties and showing no signs of growing up. Dad’s getting fed up. Meanwhile, my business is doing well… but you know what my family’s like. I can’t give anyone any dirt on me. My family still think I’m with Ja—with my boyfriend.”

Ket Siong’s expression flickered. “Your boyfriend?”

“Ex,” said Renee. Even though it was none of his business, she didn’t want Ket Siong to know how recently it was that Jason had gone from boyfriend to ex.

“I don’t want you to think—it’s not that you aren’t—” Renee felt a flush rise under her skin. She wanted to be careful of Ket Siong’s feelings, but she also didn’t want to give away too much of her own.

“It’s never been easy for me to make friends,” she said finally. “Your friendship meant so much to me, back then. You’re a great guy. I’m just not looking for anything serious right now.”

The silence that followed was awful. Renee wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she hadn’t opted for shorts. Growing upin the tropics meant they were her automatic choice for lounging around in at home, but the underfloor heating wasn’t doing quite enough to set off the morning’s autumnal chill. She felt exposed, in more ways than one.

Though it wasn’t like Ket Siong was staring. He was looking down, toying with his cup of coffee. Renee couldn’t make out his expression.