Page 36 of The Friend Zone Experiment

Despite her reproof, Ket Siong must have done something right. Renee had lost her unearthly calm. She was sobbing properly now, her voice breaking.

“I c-came here because you have my shoes,” she said. “My Converse? I left them here the other day.”

“Those hurt your feet,” said Ket Siong. Renee had dropped by after dim sum with friends, complaining that her shoes chafed. She’d kicked off her Converse and refused to put them on again. He’d gone to her flat and got her another pair of shoes so she could go straight to her next tutorial from his place.

“It doesn’t matter. My feet already hurt,” said Renee. She put her face in her hands.

Ket Siong knelt and peeled her socks off her feet, as gently as he could. Her feet were rubbed raw. She must have been limping for the last part of the walk.

“You can get blister plasters,” he said. “I’ll go to Boots. Do you have your keys?” She didn’t. He handed Renee his phone. “Tell your concierge I’m coming. It’s those black Adidas trainers you like, right?”

“You’re not going now?”

Ket Siong paused while pulling on his shoes. “Do you need anything else?” Itwascoming on to dinnertime. “I could get a takeaway?”

Renee shook her head. “I don’t want food.” She paused, then said, in a small voice, “I want a hug.”

Ket Siong stopped. Renee wouldn’t meet his eyes. She was curled in on herself, her shoulders hunched. It wasn’t how he was used to seeing her. There was no sign of her characteristic happy confidence, like that of a delightful baby charmed with all the world.

He took off his shoes and, slowly, his coat. Renee was sittingon his bed. She’d never done that before. Neither of them had noticed, what with everything going on.

He sat down on the bed and put an arm around her. Renee turned in towards him at once, burying her face in his shoulder, and then it was surprisingly easy to put his other arm around her. It felt natural to hold her close, as though he had nothing to hide.

For a while they were quiet. Ket Siong thought,I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.

It was Renee who broke the silence.

“Your heart’s beating so fast.” Her voice was a near whisper.

Ket Siong had been hoping she wouldn’t notice. It was typical of Renee to have pointed it out, instead of politely pretending nothing was happening.

It was also like Renee not to leave it there.

“Ket Siong,” she said, in wonder. “Do youlikeme?”

Now it came to it, it was impossible to lie. Ket Siong nodded.

“Nathalie said so, but…”

Ket Siong’s head came up. “What did she say?”

“She said no boy does the stuff you do for me unless they—you know,” said Renee. “I told her, Ket Siong’s just being nice. We’re friends. She laughed at me,” she added, with a hint of petulance.

“I am your friend,” said Ket Siong, because it was important that she understand that was still true.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Ket Siong thought of Andrew Yeoh, shoving his way into Renee’s home. “I didn’t want to be like the others.”

“You couldn’t be,” whispered Renee. “There’s never been anyone else like you.”

Something in her voice gave him the courage to meet her eyes. Suddenly Ket Siong knew that, incredible as it seemed, Renee wanted him to kiss her—would be disappointed if he didn’t lean in and press his lips to hers.

He’d never yet been able to resist giving Renee anything she wanted.

Their first kiss was everything he had imagined it might be.Even so, it was rapidly overshadowed by the kisses that followed. Renee pressed herself against him, her mouth hungry, as though she had been thinking about this too, had been wanting it just as much.

To the extent thought was guiding him, he was trying to be respectful. It was Renee who lay back, pulling him down onto the bed, Renee who slid her hands under his shirt. She stroked his waist, her touch tentative, then—growing bolder—explored the dip in his lower back. Her clever fingers skimmed up his spine, finding his shoulder blades.