“Once your dad and I started dating, we couldn’t stand to be apart. I don’t know how you are doing it,” Anna gossiped.

“Yeah. The two months apart nearly killed me. You saw how we jumped each other.” Anna snickered, nodding her head in understanding. Most parents might have been ashamed or angry, but she knew her son. He wouldn’t be improper in public even if there was a gun to his head. To have someone who he could break the unbreakable rule for was a boon.

“It gets easier as you age,” Anna informed. “Henrick and I stay apart for long periods, but it doesn’t kill us.” She shrugged.

Cage glared at her. “Don’t pin your lack of love for one another on us. We’ll be this cuddly even in our graves.” Anna smacked his arm, protesting against his unlucky words.

“Go to your girl. You should see her when she comes out. We’ll be in the car. We booked a private table in a hotel for dinner. Remember that!” She waved at her son, taking Henrick’s arm in hers and dragging him out. The last he saw of them, Henrick was still looking intently at his phone.

– – –

The finals was going to happen the next day, so Katherine trudged out of the arena without a look back. She was greeting everyone when she noticed Laurence and Ian talking to someone. Ian was more silent than usual. But Laurence animatedly spoke to the person in question.

The man was Cage. He had made his way into the room where all the staff were and had started talking to Laurence.

Katherine squinted in suspicion as she moved forward. She stopped a few steps away, not wanting to intrude on the conversation just yet. But she was close enough to eavesdrop. Ian noticed this, but he remained mute.

“Thank you so much for coming. I didn’t know you were or I would have properly greeted you,” Laurence was saying.

“I wanted to be lowkey for this event. It’s a personal trip, so I don’t want more people knowing,” he chuckled nervously.

“I was surprised to see you there. Are you a fan of CoG?” Laurence asked, sounding more interested than he should.

“Yeah. I am looking forward to the new version. That’s why I dropped by,” Cage supplied helpfully. “It was nice seeing you, though,” he added helpfully.

It was actually Ian who called on Katherine. “Hey, Katherine! Come here,” he called out, waving his hand. The expression on his face was awkward as he tried to taichi around the conversation. Seeing Cage talk to Laurence casually and not bringing up how the latter had constantly flirted with Katherine despite the warning he had put out… it wasn’t pretty.

There were moments when Cage looked at Ian blankly in the eyes, accusing him of not doing a good job at bearing his message. Ian had quickly looked away, ashamed. He had, indeed, tried his best with the limited amount of things he could reveal to Laurence.

Coming back to the present, Katherine swiveled around, surprised but walked over any ways. She glanced towards Cage and wondered what she should say. In front of the others, this was the first time she was meeting Cage. They didn’t know each other and Cage was a superstar.

Sabrina was also in earshot, so she couldn’t act like she wasn’t affected. So, she went for the best option.

“I love you,” she blurted out, her eyes widening as she turned around to see who else had heard. Cage choked, as did Ian and Laurence, but the former was the first to recover.

It was usual for Cage to receive such love confessions, so it wouldn’t be suspicious that Katherine had said something of the sort.

“I love you, too,” Cage replied with a chuckle, sounding absolutely polite and as if he was indulging a fan. Nothing more than that. Kudos to Cage for having the calmness to recover from her blunder.

“Katherine, I didn’t know you were a fan,” Laurence commented as if to dissolve the air of awkwardness.

“I am. You mustn’t have been to my social media much. I have some pretty amazing fanart.” She turned to Cage with a sweet smile.

“Rinsten, yes. I see your content every day. I must say, I’m taking by it. Moreover, your use of ingredients and dietary restrictions used… they match with mine perfectly.” The teasing lilt of his voice and the general silence coming from Ian make Katherine blush.

“Yes, but you can’t call me a stalker. I wouldn’t have known unless you told me.” Two could play at the game, Cage.

“Never said you did.” He shook his head, chuckling. He glanced briefly at Laurence, who looked bewildered. He hadn’t caught on with all the little hints they had put out.

“You two know each other, right?” Laurence commented, pointing between the two of them. Katherine stiffened, suddenly remembering that they knew Stephen was Angelina’s boyfriend.

“Hush, we wouldn’t want others to know,” Cage said with a wink.

“Right, people would flock to her. She’s very low key,” Laurence provided helpfully. Katherine remained mum as she looked at the anger in Cage’s eyes.

“You seem to know her well…” he taunted. It was barely recognizable in his voice, but having known him for so long and so intimately, Katherine could critically analyze the moods of Cage Cavanaugh.

“They collaborated, that’s about it!” Ian interjected before Laurence could get his words in. Katherine heaved a sigh of relief.

“Well, then.” Cage looked at his watch conspicuously and then back up at them. “It’s getting late. I’m having a private dinner with my family today. I’ll get going.” As the others greeted him, Cage threw Katherine a meaningful look.

The people outside had already left and there wouldn’t be anyone in the parking lot either. Katherine could see how he had diverted the time so that he could wait for Katherine to come out.

Katherine actually hung out for a couple of minutes before receiving a text from Cage.