Kiss Collector.

Lila burst through the door like a whirlwind, her laughter echoing before her words even tumbled out.

She didn’t stop until she collided with Ryan, flinging herself into his arms as though the world had suddenly gifted her wings.

“Ryan!” she squealed, her cheeks glowing pink with excitement.

“You won’t believe it, they called me back. Black Ridge Company actually called me back! And not just anyone, the CEO himself signed my appointment letter. Can you imagine? He stamped it with his own hand. Do you know what that means?”

Her words rushed out so quickly they nearly tangled over each other, but Ryan simply steadied her in his arms, his lips tugging into that maddeningly cool smile, the one that always made her insides turn into a puddle.

“I told you it would happen,” he said smoothly, his voice as calm as ever, as though predicting the impossible was his daily hobby.

Lila grinned, shaking him playfully. “You! You’re a magician, Ryan. Everything you said, everything you prophesied, it all came true. Tell me, how did you do that?”

Ryan tilted his head, his gaze darkening with mischief. “Magician, huh? If I’m that good, shouldn’t you be compensating me?”

“Compensate you?” Lila rolled her eyes dramatically. “You already got the satisfaction of being right. Isn’t that enough?”

“Not nearly,” Ryan replied, his smile turning even more wicked. “You owe me something, remember?”

Lila blinked, caught off guard. “Owe you?”

“Yes.” His voice dropped to that deep teasing tone that never failed to make her stomach flutter. “A kiss. You promised.”

Her face flushed instantly. “W-what? I did not!”

“You did.” He leaned closer, smirking. “And I always collect my debts.”

“I don't remember owing you anything okay.” She scoffed, turning her head away as her heart galloped in her chest. “So just leave me alone, Ryan.”

But just as she started walking off, Ryan moved fast. With one swift motion, he swept her clean off her feet, cradling her in his arms as though she weighed nothing.

“Ryan!” she shrieked, clutching at his shoulders as he spun her around. “Put me down this instant!”

“Not until you keep your word.” His laugh was rich, deep, and entirely too pleased with himself.

“You’re insane!” she yelled between helpless giggles, her hair flying around her face.

“Then say it,” Ryan teased, twirling her again until she squealed. “Say you’ll give me my kiss.”

Lila pouted, her cheeks puffed like a sulky child. “What are you, some kind of kiss collector?”

“Exactly,” he said shamelessly. “And right now, I’m here to collect.”

When he threatened another dizzying twirl, Lila’s resolve snapped. “Fine! Fine, I’ll give it to you. Just put me down before I faint!”

Triumphant, Ryan gently set her back on her feet. But as soon as he released her, the atmosphere shifted. His eyes, dark, steady, and unreadable, lingered on her face, tracing every nervous flicker of her gaze. Lila’s breath caught.

He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Now... about my kiss.”

Her heart stuttered. On instinct, she rose on her tiptoes, pressed the quickest peck to his cheek, then backed away with a triumphant grin. “There. Happy?”

Ryan blinked, scoffed, then let out a low chuckle. “That?” he said, brushing his cheek where she had kissed him. “That wasn’t a kiss, Lila. That was daylight robbery.”

“What do you mean? That counts!”

“Not in my book.” He stepped closer, towering over her now, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Here, watch carefully. This is how it’s done. Consider it, a lesson. You’ll thank me later when you finally get a boyfriend. He’ll never tire of you.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Ryan, you’re not trying to play me, are you?”

“Would I ever?” His grin was infuriating.

Lila gulped, her face heating uncontrollably. Against her better judgment, she allowed him closer. She braced herself for something soft, something teasing. But instead...

Ryan’s hand slid to the back of her neck, pulling her flush against him. Before she could react, his lips seized hers in a fierce, breathtaking kiss that stole the very air from her lungs.

Something about the way he sucks on her lips wildly. Or the way his ragged breathing fan her face. Or the way he shut his eyes, savoring the kiss like it was the sweetest candy in the world. Kissing her like he could never get enough.

Her world spun, not from his twirl this time, but from the raw intensity of his kiss. It was nothing like she had imagined, no gentle brush, no playful peck. It was deep, commanding, and far too real. By the time he pulled back, Lila was dazed, her breathing ragged, her face a furnace she couldn’t cool.

She dared not look at him. Instead, she turned away quickly, clutching her chest as if her racing heart might burst right out. Every nerve in her body was trembling.

Ryan, however, threw his head back and laughed. “See? I told you, you’re such a baby at this. But don’t worry...” He winked, his voice dripping with arrogant charm. “This big brother of yours will teach you well.”

Mortified, Lila puffed her cheeks until they resembled a balloon, glaring at him with mock fury. “You... you stupid Casanova!”

And with that, she bolted, almost tripping over her own feet as if the floor had suddenly turned into a skating rink. She dashed out before her legs gave way completely.

Ryan stood there, grinning like an idiot, dimples deep and eyes sparkling. His heart was still somewhere in orbit when reality smacked him across the face. The moment Lila disappeared from sight, the smile slid right off his face. He dragged a hand across his hair and groaned.

“Get a grip, Ryan. It’s just Lila. Your Lila. The same Lila who once wet the bed at seven and blamed it on the dog.”

He repeated it like a desperate mantra, as though mocking her childhood disasters could drown the fact that his pulse was racing like he’d run ten laps. It didn’t work. His chest still thudded like a drumline at a pep rally. The moment he shut his eyes, all he could see was her flushed face and the way she had run away from his kiss.

Actually, Ryan wasn’t just a lone wolf pining after a girl. Their story started from way back, as a matter of fact he belonged to a pack. Four of them, Ryan, Lila, Raymond, and Thomas. Best friends, teammates, partners in crime. On the basketball court, they were a nightmare to anyone who dared challenge them. But off the court? Ryan and Lila were the original duo, the nucleus of it all.

As a matter of fact, the world knows it was totally different with Lila and Ryan. Maybe because they went way back, further than any of the others. Raymond had joined five years after the Ryan-and-Lila duo had become a thing, and Thomas came along three years ago. Then there was Peggy.

Thomas’s sister, who was forever trying to elbow her way into the group. For some reason, Lila couldn’t stand her, and Ryan, being Ryan, always sided with Lila.

Why would he? If Lila didn’t like broccoli, he didn’t like broccoli. If Lila’s favorite color was blue, then blue was his religion. If Lila sneezed, Ryan practically caught a cold in solidarity. Whatever song she loved, he loved louder. If she disliked someone, so did he.

He didn’t just like her, he orbit-ed her, like a planet helplessly circling its sun. But their history wasn’t just neighborly chit-chat.

No wonder both families, watching from the sidelines, had whispered the inevitable: They’re perfect. Marry them off already.

They had been inseparable since childhood. Neighbors first, friends second, soul-twins without even knowing it. Ryan still remembered it like it was yesterday the seven-year-old Lila sobbing crocodile tears to her parents until they switched her into his school. Victory achieved, she went from his backyard to his classroom, sneaking into his lessons so often that she preferred his class to hers, they were practically inseparable.

As a matter of fact she never left his side. She would sneak into his class whenever she got bored, or if anyone looks for her trouble. The teachers would send her back to her class, but in less than a minute she was back again, until the teachers stopped bothering. Soon enough, the entire school dubbed them “the couple.” Ryan never complained. Lila rolled her eyes, but secretly? She basked in it too.

Then came salsa. Yes, salsa. Two awkward kids stepping on each other’s toes, turning practice into comedy shows. But they stuck with it, because that’s what they did. And suddenly, they weren’t just clowns anymore, they were champions, sweeping trophies for the school with moves that left everyone gaping.

When they got older, they swapped dancing shoes for basketball sneakers, and once again they led side by side, teammates, champions, unstoppable.

Basketball became their stage. Lila and Ryan weren’t just good, they were perfect, the kind of duo that made coaches shake their heads and rivals groan. If Lila scored, Ryan was the one who passed. If Ryan missed, Lila was already there to rebound. The two of them were like magnets on the court, always finding each other.

When it came time for college, fate tried to pull them apart, Lila went overseas, and Ryan broke. He fell sick, so sick that his mom practically turned into Lila’s personal secretary, calling her at all hours to beg, “Just come back, please. My son is wasting away!”

At one point, Ryan’s family even offered to pay for Lila’s tuition if her parents would just transfer her back. Eventually, Ryan did the unthinkable: he transferred schools just to be near her, sacrificing a year of his graduation for her.

The longest they had ever managed to stay apart was one year, and even that felt like a slow kind of torture. Their phones practically overheated from how often they called each other. Morning, noon, midnight, Lila knew the sound of Ryan’s yawns as much as his laughter, and Ryan knew every dramatic sigh she made when she was stressed over an assignment.

If one of them sneezed, the other would text immediately: “Bless you, idiot.”

Four years ago, back when Ryan had disappeared for a while to secretly set up his own company.

QNobody knew about it, not even Lila, for reasons best known to him, although thats a story for later. But even then, she was the first person he wanted to share every detail with, the only one he trusted enough to hear his dreams. She was his everything, and he was hers, it was almost ridiculous how people could say “just friends” when they were practically glued to each other’s lives.

When his father first mentioned that Lila was the bride both families had quietly chosen for him, Ryan had laughed out loud. The idea was absurd, his Lila? His partner-in-crime, his sparring partner, his person? But the laughter faded into something else. Maybe that was the moment a seed of different feelings took root, messy, confusing feelings that didn’t belong in the neat little box of friendship.

He never said a word though. He just carried it quietly, teasing her as usual, joking like always, while inside him something shifted.

The day the news was broken to Lila, her reaction alone was enough to slam Ryan’s head back into reality. She had made it painfully clear, it could never work. Still, fate had other plans. Then came the wedding.

Only Ryan knew how much he had secretly looked forward to that day. He’d held his breath for days beforehand, silently praying Lila wouldn’t find a last-minute excuse to run. Every night he’d imagine her saying “no,” and every morning he’d wake up wishing nothing, absolutely nothing, would go wrong. When the vows were finally spoken and the marriage sealed, he laughed triumphantly in his heart, as if he’d won the most dangerous gamble of his life. She was stuck with him now. He told himself.

But reality has a cruel sense of humor. The very same night, Lila shattered any lingering illusions he had about playing the role of her husband. With one sharp, painful rejection, she made sure he understood that the dream was one-sided. From that night onward, Ryan buried the last flicker of hope that anything romantic could ever bloom between them. He told himself to be content with friendship, that wanting more was selfish.

Still, one secret refused to die. Ever since that stolen kiss at their wedding, he had longed for it again. He dreamed of it, replayed it, craved it like a forbidden drug. No matter how much he tried to shove the thought into the shadows, the truth haunted him: he wanted to kiss Lila again.

He knew those thoughts were wrong. She wanted to live her life, and she wanted him to live his, separately. But desire has a way of ignoring logic. Ryan tried everything to fight the ridiculous thoughts that plagued him, thoughts of Lila in ways he should never think of her. So he decided to do anything capable enough to distract him from Lila, so he chased distractions the way a drowning man chases air: countless women, endless nights, escapades, laughter that sounded too loud to be real. To everyone else, he was just Ryan, the charming playboy who couldn’t keep still.

But no one knew the truth.

Because when the lights dimmed, during sex with his escapades, when bodies tangled and his heartbeat thundered toward release, it was never their name that slipped from his lips. It was hers. Lila’s. Always Lila’s. He could only release, if he imagined it was her, her laugh, her skin, her fire, filling the empty space where no one else ever fit.

It was pathetic. It was dangerous. And it was the one secret he’d sworn would go with him to his grave.

And then came the lingerie. The day he ordered it, months ago, half-jokingly. God help him. He had told himself it was just a stupid impulse buy, something to toss aside with a smirk. But, a darker part of him had pictured her in it, his Lila, his best friend, his not-so-wife. He would never admit it aloud, not even on his deathbed. But the truth still sat heavy in his chest, and the image alone was enough to drive him half mad.

Still, he dared not breathe a word. Because Lila would never forgive him if she found out. No, she’d skin him alive, hang him out to dry, and then bury the evidence with a smile. And Ryan? He’d probably die grinning. But God, the thought alone was enough to ruin him.

And now, years later, Ryan was standing here, half-crazed after a single kiss, convincing himself that this was still the same bedwetting, salsa-dancing, overly dramatic girl who had once driven him insane in the best possible way.

Except she wasn’t just that anymore. Because no matter how he tried to escape it, she wasn’t just his best friend. She was Lila. His Lila. And that was the problem.

Because she was the love he could never claim.