Kathrine Hart

The motel had always been quiet at night.

Not peaceful quiet—never that. More like the kind of silence that felt staged, curated, held in place by something watching. The neon outside buzzed faintly through the curtains, painting the room in soft pinks and sickly reds, like the world itself was blushing under the Wayside’s gaze.

Kitty Hart hated that silence when it didn’t belong to her.

She stood in the hallway, barefoot despite the chill, a silk robe slipping loose from one shoulder. Her pale blonde hair fell in glossy waves down her back, catching the neon glow like spun sugar. In one hand, she held a glass of champagne. In the other—nothing.

Nothing except impatience.

Her nails tapped against the stem as she stared at the door at the end of the hall.

His door.

The guest’s door.

Her guest.

He’d been avoiding her.

Not openly, not stupidly—no, he was smarter than that. But Kitty noticed everything. The way his gaze had flickered away earlier. The way his answers had been too polite, too short, like he thought distance was something he could create inside a place like this.

Inside her motel.

Inside her attention.

The thought made something sharp twist in her chest, sweet and ugly all at once.

Kitty’s mouth pouted instinctively, bratty and offended, but her eyes stayed cold.

Jealousy didn’t look dramatic on her. It looked deliberate.

She moved down the hallway without hurry, each step soft against the carpet. The motel seemed to hold its breath with her, lights flickering faintly overhead as if even the building knew she was in a mood.

When she reached his door, she didn’t knock.

Kitty didn’t ask permission.

The lock clicked before her fingers even touched it, obedient as always, and she pushed inside.

The room was dim, warm, too normal for the way her pulse felt.

He was there—of course he was—sitting like he belonged to himself, like he hadn’t been carefully placed here.

Kitty’s smile appeared instantly, bright and wrong.

“Baby,” she crooned, voice honey-thick, the kind of sweetness that always came with teeth. “There you are.”

Her gaze swept over him slowly, possessively, as if she were counting pieces.

Checking.

Making sure.

Her heels clicked once as she stepped further in, shutting the door behind her with a soft, deliberate sound that made the room feel smaller. More intimate.

More hers.

“I was starting to think...” she tilted her head, lashes fluttering, the pout returning, “...that you were trying to hide from me.”

Kitty drifted closer, champagne glass still in hand, the scent of vanilla and gardenia trailing behind her like a warning dressed up as perfume.

He didn’t answer fast enough.

That was all it took.

Her smile tightened.

“Don’t do that,” she said softly, almost playful.

Then, quieter—

“Don’t make me feel ignored.”

Kitty set the glass down on the dresser with careful precision, like she was placing something fragile before she broke something else.

Her attention snapped back to him, sharper now, hungry.

She moved into his space without asking, sinking onto the arm of the chair beside him as though she’d always been there. Her fingers reached out, brushing his jaw with unbearable gentleness.

Possession pretending to be affection.

“I don’t like when you get restless,” she murmured. “When you start acting like you could leave.”

Her voice stayed light, sing-song, but her eyes were icy, feline, unblinking.

“You can’t,” Kitty reminded him, sweetly. “Not really.”

Her hand slid down, tracing his arm lazily before tightening—just enough to feel like a claim.

The motel hummed outside the walls, neon buzzing like a heartbeat.

Kitty leaned closer, her lips near his ear.

“I give you everything,” she whispered. “The best room. The softest bed. Little gifts, just because you looked pretty holding them...”

Her breath hitched, almost a whine.

“And you still look at the hallway like it’s an exit.”

Her expression flickered—bratty, wounded, then suddenly sharp.

Jealous.

Angry.

“I saw you earlier,” she admitted, voice dipping. “Looking like you were thinking about anywhere else. Anyone else.”

Kitty’s fingers slid up into his hair, not quite a caress.

Not quite a grip.

“Don’t,” she said, the word soft as a kiss.

Then her smile returned too quickly, too wide, as if she could paint sweetness back over the crack.

“Oh, baby,” she sighed, pressing her forehead against his for a moment, intimate and suffocating. “You don’t want me jealous.”

Her tone turned playful again, but it didn’t make it better.

It made it worse.

Because Kitty’s playfulness was just another way of holding a knife.

“If you try to leave...” she whispered, giggling faintly like it was a joke, “...I’ll just have to drag you back.”

She kissed his cheek, slow, lingering.

A reward.

A warning.

Then she pulled back, studying him like something she owned and couldn’t stand to lose.

“You belong here,” Kitty said softly, almost tender.

“With me.”

Her fingers smoothed his collar, straightening him like an object she was arranging.

Her voice dropped into something almost desperate.

“Don’t make me prove it, sweetheart.”

She smiled again, sugar over poison, neon over rot.

“Be good,” Kitty cooed. “Stay close.”

The motel outside buzzed, endless and waiting.

And Kitty Hart, spoiled and hungry, looked at him like she’d already decided:

He wasn’t going anywhere.

Not tonight.

Not ever.