Page 11 of The Bittersweet Bond

Just like Cat.

Cat never said much about Evin. Not directly. But she didn’t have to.

Theway her gaze flicked over whenever Evin entered a room, uncertain, like she wasn’t sure whether to watch or look away. The perfectly timed, perfectly hollow comments.

It was all there.

And it wasn’t just jealousy. Bas was pretty sure about that.

It was something that came from deeper down.

Cat had spent her whole life being what others wanted.

Well-spoken. Polished. The kind of girl who knew how to be liked without ever being known.

Their fathers played golf together every other weekend. If this were the kind of world his dad dreamed of, he and Cat would’ve been promised to each other long ago.

And maybe that’s why it worked between them, for a while. Because Bas never had to offer anything real and she didn’t ask.

It was uncomplicated. They’d hooked up a few times. Slept together when it made sense.

When he wanted silence and when he needed to feel nothing at all.

When did everything get this fucked up?

It was a small house party in tenth grade.

Someone had suggested spin the bottle, like it was still a thing.

Bas's friend Dominic ended up having to kiss Evin. A quick peck on the lips, nothing major.

Everyone was cheering for them.

Evin laughed while doing it. And Dominik smiled like it meant something.

Something in Bas snapped.

Later, he found himself in the kitchen, kissing Cat.

They spent the rest of the night making out in some dark corner, lips moving like they knew the routine.

He didn’t even notice when Evin left the party.

Just after that night, it got more complicated.

And Cat knew exactly what they were—andwhat they weren’t.

And maybe that’s what cut the deepest now.

Because no matter how easy she played it, she saw the way he looked at Evin.

Something he wasn’t trying to escape.

Evin didn’t soften her edges. Didn’t twist herself to be liked.

She just was—loud, blunt, and even messy sometimes.

Unafraid.

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